Adventures in Lightning
by Shad0wHunter
Summary: Lee, Naruto, Hinata and Tenten find themselves on their way to the lightning country seeking to gain diplomacy with the Raikage. Updates Cancelled, instead i'm rewriting the whole fic.
1. Ch1 The impossible mission

Chapter 1: The Impossible mission

It was the beginning of winter. There was no snow on the ground yet, but it was wrapped in a blanket of leaves from the autumn fall. The wind bit at Naruto's face as he walked down the street towards Tsudane's office. Apparently there was a mission only HE could do.

Naruto was ecstatic. He kept thinking that she was finally seeing how strong he was. He walked down the road with a giant grin on his face. He stopped at Ichiraku ramen on the way over to see if Iruka was there. He wasn't. Naruto pouted for a moment. He wanted to tell Iruka-sensei about is mission!

He continued down the road until he got to Tsudane's office. He walked up the stairs and into her room, to see Hinata, Lee, Tenten, Kurenai, Gai, and Kakashi all standing around Tsunade's desk.

"But why THESE four!" Yelled Kakashi as he slammed his hands down on the table. "It makes NO SENSE!"

"I'm inclined to agree with Kakashi on this Tsunade." Said Gai. "You're going to break up my team for this mission!" Kurenai nodded with agreement and looked at Tsunade expectantly.

Tsunade sighed, "Kakashi, Gai, and Kurenai," she said as she looked up, "I assure you that nothing will happen to these four on this mission." She narrowed her eyes and added, "I've arranged for them to have ample help."

Kakashi snorted, "But that's not the POINT Tsunade-sama." Kakashi sad in a very frustrated tone, "You're breaking up three teams for one mission!"

"Just how important IS it?" Asked Kurenai shooting Tsunade a sidelong stare.

"This mission will change the Konoha as we know it." Tsunade said. "Naruto, please." She motioned for him to come in. "Have a seat. It's important that you hear this too"

"H-hai baa-san…" Said Naruto cautiously as he walked into the room. All eyes were on him as if everything was HIS fault. Something he was quite used to actually… He sat down next to Hinata and the yelling commenced once again.

"So!" Prodded Kakashi. "What makes this mission so important that it will change the Konoha, but you're only sending three Chuunin and a Genin away to do it!"

"It's a diplomatic mission." Said Tsunade, "To the Lightning Country."

Everyone just stared at her. Kakashi's jaw dropped so far that his mask almost fell off.

"How could you…?" Kurenai started.

"How could you even THINK about sending THESE nin on THIS mission!" Kakashi completely lost it. "You've got Naruto, the king of messing up delicate situations, Hinata, the most quiet ninja EVER, Lee…he's Lee… and Tenten, which I don't know ANYTHING about. WHAT ARE YOU THINKING!"

"Are you quite done Kakashi?" Tsunade asked. "Now I know this may be a bit of a shock to you, but we have a cloud nin who is willing to take them to the Lightning Country."

"WHAAAAA---" Kakashi started, but was cut off by Tsunade.

"There will be NO discussion here!" Yelled Tsunade.

"Umm…" Hinata started.

"There WILL be discussion here! None of us want our teams…"

"Uhhh…" Hinata started again. Naruto glanced over at Hinata and frowned.

"Kakashi! These nin have been hand-picked by ME to go on this mission."

"Errrr…" Started Hinata again.

"5th-sama, I know that you have…"

"HEYHEYHEY!" , yelled Naruto, which caused everyone in the room to look at him. "You haven't let US have any input on the situation!" Naruto made a face and looked up.

"None of you have tried to say anything." Kakashi said, looking at Naruto.

"Yeah!" Naruto yelled, "What about Hinata? I've seen her try to say something 3 times! And you guys just ignore her because of your stupid adult nonsense!"

Silence.

"Hinata?" Asked Tsunade, "If you please." Hinata's face turned bright red.

_He was listening to her!_

"I…Umm…think…that it might not be… too bad of an idea…if we had a jounin go with us…" Hinata said, poking her index fingers together.

"Yeah! Good idea Hinata-Chan!" Naruto said patting her on the head. Causing her to blush even more and make a little "meep" sound.

"Hmm…" Tsunade considered.

"I would feel better about this if there was a Konoha jounin with them…" Kurenai added. "But, I'm still not very happy about it…"

"The question is, who should it be…?" Tsunade asked.

"I don't get it, is this mission THAT dangerous?" asked Naruto.

"Yes Naruto, In order to get to the Lightning Country, on must go through the Sound Country."

"S-sound?" Hinata shuddered.

"Isn't that where that Orochimaru guy is from?" Asked Naruto.

"Hmmm…yes, I forgot about that bastard…"

"Hah! If that Orochimaru creep comes anywhere NEAR us, I'll kick his ass!"

"So, It seems like Naruto is in…" said Gai.

"If he's in, I'm in!" Said Lee, with fire in his eyes.

"If Lee is in, I'm in." Said Tenten staring at Lee with glossy eyes.

"If-f…t-they're all in, I g-guess I am too." Said Hinata shakily.

"YEAHYEAH! Yelled Naruto. "This will be the best mission ever!"

"Well…" Tsunade sighed. "Who's it going to be?" Kakashi and Gai looked at each other.

"Jan!" Yelled Gai.

"Ken!" Yelled Kakashi.

"What th-!" Yelled Naruto.

"**PO!**" Kakashi and Gai yelled in unison as the swung at each other. Their Chakra filled the room as the two rivals hands met in midair. As the smoke cleared, it showed Kakashi's open hand covering Gai's fist.

"Two out of three," Said Gai.

"You're on." Said Kakashi.

"JAN!"

"KEN!"

**"PO!"** They flung their hands at each other again. The smoke cleared once again, to reveal Gai's open hand in-between Kakashi's index and middle finger.

"Scissors cuts paper," Kakashi said with a gleam in his eye.

"CURSE YOU KAKASHI!" Gai said in fury. "YOU WILL RUE THIS DAY! RUE IT!" Gai stormed out.

"THAT MAKES IT 50 to 50 GAI!" Kakashi yelled out the door.

"RUE IT!" Yelled Gai as he stomped through the door.

"What on earth was THAT Kakashi!" Yelled Tsunade. Kakashi looked at her.

"JanKen." Kakashi said simply.

"Why did you just play Janken…?" Asked Tsunade.

"To see who escorts these nin to the Lightning country."

"So you'll do it?" Tsunade asked surprised.

"Yup." Said Kakashi. Tsunade grinned.

"Alright kiddies, pack up. Cuz tomorrow, you're going on a mission."

"WOOOOOOT!" Yelled Naruto.

"C'mon Hinata!" Said Tenten, "Lets go pack!"

"S-sure." Hinata said as Tenten pulled her out the door.

"Why do girls have to make everything into a group project?" Asked Naruto. "Especially something as simple as packing…"

"Cuz girls are weird." Kakashi said. He had already busted out his Icha Icha Tactics and was reading. "C'mon boys, I think there's something Kurenai needs to discuss with the 5th."

"Hey…Kakashi-sensei, BUY ME RAMEN!" Naruto yelled as he walked out the door. Kurenai waited till there was no more audible noise from the boy before she began.

"5th, I know that this is an important mission. But…" Tsunade cut her off.

"Why Naruto?" She asked.

"Yes, and its fairly obvious that Hinata has a crush on him. So why did you put Hinata and Naruto on a mission together? It's insane!"

"Maybe." Tsunade said smiling. "But Naruto has a way of bringing out the best in people." She started to work on some papers on her desk. "So that's why he had to go. And for Hinata…She needs to build confidence if she ever wants to become head of the Hyuuga house. And to be with the boy she likes for a long time with almost no one else around to talk to…she'll eventually be forced to talk to him. Thus bringing up her confidence."

Kurenai sighed, "Fine, but if something happens to her, I will NOT forgive you."

"Duly noted." Said Tsunade as she continued her work. Kurenai left with an angry glance at Tsunade who didn't look up from her papers.

Chapter 2: One Hell of a Journey

It was the morning after the mission to the Lightning country. Naruto was still asleep. He was late, more so than usual. Fortunately, He wasn't the only one. Kakashi, as usual was late. Lee, Hinata, and Tenten stood at the gate waiting.

"I wonder if we should go looking for them?" Asked Lee.

"I can understand Naruto, but Kakashi-sensei?" Said Tenten, "I mean he's supposed to be our escort…you'd think he'd be here early…" Tenten obviously didn't know Kakashi.

"U-umm, I know where Naruto-kun lives…I could check there…" offered Hinata.

"Cool," said Tenten, "I'll go check Ichiraku ramen,"

"I'll go look for Kakashi-sensei. Let's all meet back here in half an hour." They all left with a nod.

Hinata started towards Naruto's house. She can't believe she offered to go to NARUTO'S house. "Oh no…what do I do when I get there?" she asked herself. She got to Naruto's house in a few minutes and stood outside trying to get enough courage to knock on the door. "What do I do…?" She picked up her hand and tapped lightly, and as if surprised, ducked and covered. She looked at it again, and knocked a little harder. "N-Naruto-kun?" She asked lightly, "are you there?"

No answer.

"Naruto-kun?" she asked again. She started to knock harder. There was still no answer. There was only one more option. She had to go in. She reached out for the doorknob.

"What are you doing Hinata-chan?" asked a voice from behind her.

"MEEP!" The startled Hinata yelled. She turned around to see Sakura standing behind her.

"You know that's Naruto's house right?" She asked Hinata with her hands on her hips.

"Y-yes, Sakura-kun" She said through her panting. "You nearly gave me a heart attack."

"Sorry." She said. "You looking for Naruto? He's probably still asleep." Sakura made an odd face. She grinned a sly way and asked, "So, do you have something to TELL him Hinata?"

Hinata meeped again, "W-what do you mean Sakura-kun? I came t-to get him for a mission, He's late…"

Sakura sighed. "He's always late." Sakura booted Naruto's door in. "NARUTO! GET YOUR ASS OUT HERE!" Naruto came to the door rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, still in his pajamas.

"What is it Sakura-Chan?" Seeing Naruto in his pajamas made Hinata blush uncontrollably. "Oh, hey Hinata-chan…. HINATA-CHAN!" He yelled. "WHAT TIME IS IT!" He looked at his clock. "DAMNIT I'M LATE! I'M NOT EVEN PACKED!" Naruto started running around. "GOTTA PACK!"

"Hey, Hinata-chan," Sakura said, "I have to go, why not help Naruto pack? It'll go faster." Hinata looked at Sakura and blushed severely and poked her fingers together. "Good luck with that Hinata-chan." Said Sakura with a wink, which caused Hinata to blush even more.

Hinata had never been in another person's house except her own, the Hyuuga mansion. She walked in looking around. She peeked around a corner, "N-Naruto-kun?" She meeped again when she saw Naruto frantically packing…in his boxers. She covered her eyes. "N-NARUTO-KUN! P-put some p-pants on!"

"Eh! HINATA-CHAN!" Naruto quickly grabbed a pair of pants and struggled to put them on. He eventually ended up landing on his face with his pants halfway on. Hinata started giggling quietly. Naruto looked up at Hinata, "Hehe, You know Hinata, You're kinda cute when you smile. You should do it more often." Hinata about exploded with embarrassment.

_He called her CUTE! HIM of all people! It was like a dream!_

"Umm, N-N-N-N-Narut-t-to-kun…y-y-you should pack." She said about to burst. "D-d-d-do you n-need h-help?"

"Nahh I got this Hinata-chan. Thanks though." He said with his trademark cheek-to-cheek smile. "Tell everyone I'll be there in a few minutes."

"O-okay Naruto-k-kun." She smiled at him and ran out. _ He thinks I'm cute!_ She thought to herself. _Maybe this WILL be a good mission after all…_

After nearly half an hour Naruto came running up to the group. Lee had found Kakashi in about 5 minutes. Tenten was waiting there too, talking at Hinata who was just nodding.

"NARUTO!" Kakashi yelled, "WHAT TOOK YOU SO LONG!" He said as he grabbed Naruto by the head and put him into a headlock.

"ACK! I was out late partying last night, so I forgot to pack!" Said the blonde mass of hair coming out of Kakashi's headlock.

"You shouldn't party the night before a mission!" Kakashi tightened his grip, "HAVE YOU LEARNED NOTHING!"

"U-umm Kakashi-sensei…I don't think that Naruto can breathe…" Said Hinata quietly. Kakashi looked down to see Naruto passed out, drooling on his arm.

"Ew." Said Kakashi as he dropped Naruto on his head. Hinata rushed over to Naruto.

"Are you okay Naruto-kun?" She said touching his would gingerly.

"I'm aaa-oookaayy Hiiinaata-chaan." He said swaying back and forth sticking out a thumbs up.

"That was cruel Kakashi-sensei!" Said Hinata.

"He's used to it." Kakashi said without looking up from his book. "I hit him on the head all the time." He pointed forward, "Let's go!"

They all looked at him. "…to the Lightning country…you know…our mission."

"You're weird Kakashi-sensei…" Kakashi looked at Tenten.

"It's all a matter of opinion Tenten…" Kakashi said as they walked out of the Konoha gate.

Tenten was still talking at Hinata who was just listening. Lee and Naruto were talking about training. Kakashi was reading thinking that this would NOT be a fun mission.

It was about two hours after the crew left the Konoha gates. Tenten STILL hadn't stopped talking. Both Naruto and Lee had stopped talking. Kakashi was still reading.

"You know," Naruto said, "We didn't say goodbye to our teams…"

"Most of my team is here," said Lee. "See?" He said as he pointed at Tenten.

"My team would yell at me for leaving…" Said Hinata.

"Sakura is probably happy I left…"

"Hmmm, you guys are one rag-tag group aren't you…?" Kakashi said looking around. "Hey guys…it might be a good idea to stay on guard now."

"Huh? Why?" Asked Naruto.

"Because, Naruto, we are far enough away from the Konoha that we could be targets." Kakashi said. "Some people might not WANT us to get to the Lightning Country. Now that we're far enough away from Konoha that we can't receive backup, we could be attacked. Always keep a hand on a kunai."

"Hmmm," said a Nin hidden in the trees, "It seems Kakashi's with them…The copy ninja…hmm…fun." He leapt to the next tree, completely silent. "This does make things a lot more interesting," he said with a grin. "Maybe I should test him…"

Kakashi looked up at the trees around them. "Stay sharp guys, we're being watched."

"What! I thought this was a diplomatic mission Kakashi-sensei!" Yelled Naruto.

"It's still an S ranked mission Naruto." Kakashi's voice trailed off as he surveyed the area. "Hinata, can you use your Byakugan to see if anyone is around?"

"Y-yes…I-I can try." She said, "BYAKUGAN!" She surveyed the area. She saw nothing. "I-I can't see anything Kakashi-sensei…"

"Hmm," Kakashi scratched his chin. "He's good."

"Kakashi-sensei…" Naruto protested, "If the Byakugan can't see anyone, then there's no one there."

"There IS someone there, Naruto…" Kakashi sniffed the air, "I can smell him."

"RAISEN NO JUTSU!" yelled a voice. A blade of lightning streaked through the air towards Kakashi.

"Oh shi-" Kakashi started to say as the bolt hit him square in the chest. He collapsed to the ground.

"Haha!" The voice said, "It seems that Kakashi is useless without his Sharingan!" A man jumped out of a tree. He was tall, had long blonde hair pulled back into a ponytail. At his waist, he carried a katana. On his head, a metal headband with clouds on it, the symbol of the village hidden in the clouds. He wore a red leather trench coat and white baggy pants. "So, what will you do now that your sensei is dead?"

"Dead?" Said Kakashi as he pressed his kunai up against the man's neck. "Don't be too hasty to kill me off. I still haven't played with you yet."

"Ahhh a replacement jutsu, eh Kakashi?" The man grinned, "clever. You always were quick with your replacement jutsus."

"Hehe, nice to see you too Kaoshi." Said Kakashi. "This is the 'ample help' Tsunade was talking about."

"HE JUST TRIED TO KILL YOU!" Yelled Naruto.

"Haha, yeah. Brings back memories, eh Kaoshi?" Kakashi said to the man.

"That it does, Kakashi. Just like old times." He leaned over the younger Nin. "Who are the runts Kakashi?"

"They're the…uh…diplomats…" Kakashi sighed.

"…WHAT! What is the 5th thinking Kakashi!" Yelled Kaoshi.

"I haven't the slightest…" sighed Kakashi again.

"HEYHEY! We're NINJA!" yelled Naruto, "We got this mission cuz we're the best of the BEST!"

"If you're the best of the best…then why don't you have a Konoha Chuunin jacket…?"

"ACK!…" Naruto choked, "Cuz…I'm not a Chuunin…"

"And the 5th sent you on an S ranked mission? God, she must be older than I thought." He laughed putting his hand on his head.

"Actually Kaoshi…I'm the one who trained Naruto." Kakashi said. "He's actually very strong. He is easily the strongest Genin in the Konoha. Not only that, but he defeated Hyuuga Neji in combat."

"The protégé of the Hyuuga clan!" He looked at Naruto, "Hmmm, guess you're not to be underestimated…"

Naruto smiled, "Hell no! Underestimating me is a HUGE mistake!"

"Whatever kid," Laughed Kaoshi, "Anyways, I'm here as backup. I'll get you to the Village hidden in the Clouds, no problem."

"Alright Kaoshi," Said Kakashi, "The kids just met you, why not introduce yourself?"

"My name's Kaoshi!" He pointed at himself with his thumb. "I'm a master swordsman, an expert in lightning-jutsus, and my dream is to become the Raikage!"

Naruto's jaw dropped to the ground. "IT'S MY DREAM TO BE HOKAGE!" He yelled.

Then, after an incredibly long discussion about becoming Hokage/Raikage, the team of completely random members decided to camp out for the night.

"C'mon Hinata, help me pitch out tent!" Said Tenten.

"O-okay…" said Hinata, following Tenten. Her and Hinata started to get to work on their tent. So did Lee and Naruto.

"So Kakashi," Said the cloud Nin, "Who exactly do we have here?"

"Well, The girl with the buns is Tenten. The one with the huge eyebrows and bowl cut is Lee, They're part of Gai's team."

"Ahh, Gai…What a silly man."

"Indeed," Kakashi nodded with agreement. "Then there's the girl with the duck butt for hair, that's Hyuuga Hinata."

"A Hyuuga! Can she use her bloodline?"

"Yes, but not very effectively, but she's still useful. She's also very shy, so try not to yell at her." Kakashi added, "Lastly we have, Uzumaki Naruto,"

"UZUMAKI!" Yelled Kaoshi, "You mean he's the 4th's…"

"Yes, but keep it down." Kakashi said, "He doesn't know yet."

"Oh, why not?" Kaoshi asked.

"Because everyone in the Konoha hates him. He has the Kyubi sealed in him. So all of the adults blame HIM for the near destruction of the village. So we kept the fact that he was Yondaime's son from the public."

"That's not right…" Kaoshi said angrily, "He should be a hero!"

"Well, you can't tell people what to think…unfortunately"

"Bakas…" said Kaoshi angrily.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Yelled Naruto, "We're all done here!"

"Okkkay" Said Kakashi, "Now two of you go get firewood…or whatever."

"Okay who's gonna go?" Asked Naruto.

"Four way Janken?" Suggested Rock. After 5 minutes the two were decided. Naruto and Hinata.

"Seriously, I SWEAR that paper beats scissors, I mean…it wraps them up and stuff and the scissors can't cut."

"Tough luck Naruto," grinned Lee, "It's you and Hinata." Tenten walked up to Hinata, patted her on the back, and whispered.

"Good luck girl!" Hinata felt her wave of embarrassment come over her. _Did EVERYONE know?_ She looked at Naruto, _Well…almost everyone…_she thought to herself.

"Fine we'll be back in a bit," Naruto whined, "Just don't eat any of my ramen!"

"HOW could we eat any of your ramen without fire to boil the water?" Asked Tenten. "Hmmm?"

"Well…don't go finding a way!" Naruto yelled as he disappeared into the darkness with Hinata. Tenten moved over to Lee.

"D'ya think she'll even talk to him?"

"Not a chance…" Lee returned. "I have an idea! TENTEN this has to be the greatest idea EVER!" Lee said excited.

"Lee…?" Tenten said blushing.

"LET'S TRAIN!" yelled Lee.

"Oh…Lee, Let's not." Tenten said with a disappointed look on her face.

Naruto walked along with Hinata a few paces behind him. Naruto had a giant frown on his face. He did NOT want to be doing this.

"N-Naruto-Kun…" Said Hinata meekly. "Maybe we shouldn't go so far from the camp?"

Naruto just looked at her. "Well there's no good firewood around here," he said, "It's not like we can go back without firewood." He stopped, "Besides, you've got that cool Byakugan or whatever. Can't that find the way back?"

"I-I suppose…" Hinata said looking at the ground.

"C'mon," Naruto said, "Let's hurry. It's starting to get cold out, and those clouds look like rain." He grabbed Hinata's arm and pulled her along.

After about half an hour of scavenging, the two found enough wood to last the night. They started heading back when, of course, it started raining.

"Come on Hinata! Let's hurry!" Naruto yelled. He pulled her by the arm again. "Hinata, which way to the camp?"

_BYAKUGAN!_ Hinata looked around. She couldn't see it. "Naruto-kun…I can't find it…the rain…It's too heavy."

"DAMMIT!" He looked at Hinata who was on the verge of tears. "Can you see like a cave or anything to hide in for a bit?" Hinata looked around again. She pointed to her left.

"There's one a little ways that way." Naruto grabbed her arm again and ran in the direction she pointed. Lo and behold, there was a cave there.

"Thank GOD!" said Naruto as he ducked into the low entrance. Hinata followed him and they sat shivering in the mouth of the cave.

"W-what are we going to d-do Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked. Naruto thought for a minute.

He crossed his fingers to make a seal, "KAGE BUNSHIN NO JUTSU!" He yelled. Three clones appeared and ran out of the cave. "Don't worry, we'll find the camp." He said with his signature smile.

Hinata wanted to cry. She felt so useless. The tears welled up in her eyes. "I'm sorry Naruto-kun. If it was Neji here, he'd be able to find the camp easily…"

Naruto looked at her, she was shivering with her head in her knees. Naruto sighed and took off his jacket. He put it around her shoulders. "Hinata-chan." He said as she looked up. "It's not your fault. You just couldn't see it. That's all. I'm sure Neji wouldn't be able to do much better."

"B-but…" she looked down again, "It's always like this. I'm always so useless…"

Naruto sat down next to her. "You're not useless, you just lack confidence." Naruto pointed to himself, "I'm the most confident person you'll ever meet. But that doesn't mean I don't screw up from time to time."

"Naruto-Kun…"

"You try to sleep," Naruto said, "I don't know how long it'll take to find the camp with my clones so…"

"But…Naruto-kun…" she said looking up at him.

"It's okay. I won't be able to talk much anyways. It takes a lot of chakra to keep the clones alive at such a distance." He patted her on the head. "You just rest."

Hinata blushed and looked down at the ground. "N-Naruto-kun…" Before she knew it she was asleep, resting her head on Naruto's shoulder.

"God." Sighed Naruto, "I had no idea that we were THIS far away from camp…" He sighed again, "At least I found it." He looked down at Hinata, "I think I can stay awake till they get here." However, the rhythmic pounding of the rain on the stone above acted as a natural lullaby and put him to sleep.

Chapter 3: TO THE SOUND!

Kakashi, Kaoshi, Tenten, and Lee were headed in the direction the clone had told them the cave was. It was the morning after the storm and everything was wet and squishy.

"So, do you think we'll find them?" Asked Lee.

"Of course we will." Said Kaoshi. "Though…The directions the clone gave us WERE pretty vague…"

"What do you expect?" Asked Kakashi. "To feed Chakra to a clone at that distance? The kid must have been exhausted." Kakashi looked around, "From what the clone said…it should be around here…"

"Kakashi-sensei!" Yelled Lee, "there's a cave over there!"

"Hmm." Kakashi said, "Lemme take a look." Kakashi knelt down to see what was inside. He stood up after a moment. "Did any of you bring a camera?"

"Umm I did Kakashi-sensei," Tenten said. "But…why would you…"

"Just take a picture of what's inside there." Tenten fished around in her bag, after a few seconds she pulled out a camera. She knelt down to take a picture.

"AWWWW!" She squealed, "That's so adorable!" She quickly snapped a few pictures.

"Let me see!" Yelled Lee and Kaoshi, who upon seeing it, started laughing. What was in the cave was Naruto and Hinata sleeping. Naruto's jacket was around Hinata's shoulders, Hinata's head was on Naruto's shoulder, and Naruto's head was resting on Hinata's.

Tenten smiled. "Mwahahaha! Can you say, 'blackmail'?"

"Wake them up." Said Kakashi, "We gotta get a move on if we're going to make it through the sound country today." Lee climbed into the mouth.

"NARUTO-KUN! HINATA-CHAN!" He yelled, "TIME TO GET UP!"

"HOLY HELL!" Yelled Naruto. "What the-? Who the-? How the-?" He looked up, "Oh, hey Lee, you scared the crap outta me!" Naruto looked over to Hinata whose face was bright red. "Mornin' Hinata-chan." She looked at him wide-eyed. _They had slept next to each other!_ Naruto stood up and brushed himself off. He then yawned so hard that it brought tears to his eyes. "That was not the most comfortable place to sleep in…" He said.

Hinata climbed out of the cave, blushing more than usual. Naruto was already looking for something to eat, seeing as he hadn't eaten anything since that afternoon. Tenten hopped over and patted Hinata on the back.

"Good job girl!" She said winking.

"B-b-but…I d-didn't do anything…" Hinata said blushing even MORE.

"I know, but what else can I say?" She said smiling. "Sleeping next to the guy you like? That deserves SOME props."

_That's it…_Hinata thought,_ EVERYONE knows…except the one person who matters…_

"Aside from the fact that you got lost…I'm pretty impressed Naruto." Kakashi said, "I mean, creating shadow clones and making them go so far away from one's body, that's quite impressive."

"Heh," Naruto laughed, "I've been practicing on my chakra control! Just like you told me to."

Naruto ran up ahead with Lee to talk about training again.

"So? Tell me what happened!" Tenten prodded.

"Nothing really…" She said, blushing more every minute.

"Ohh come on." Tenten said, "SOMETHING had to have happened."

"N-no…nothing." She stuttered.

"Man Hinata," Tenten sighed, "You're so boring."

"S-sorry Tenten…"

The party continued northwest towards the thin section of the Sound country. Kaoshi was in front, followed by Naruto and Hinata, behind them were Lee and Tenten, and lastly Kakashi took the rear. Around noon they reached the Sound border.

"Alright guys," said Kaoshi, "It's important that we stay absolutely silent for the next two hours. If we're found while inside the Sound Country, we're completely screwed."

"All right!" yelled Naruto, "LET'S GO!"

"That's the kind of thing we DON'T do." Kaoshi said punching Naruto in the head. "Once we go in, there's no going back. You ready?"

"Yeah!"

"OWAH!"

"If Lee's in, I'm in."

"Mhmm."

"I-I guess I'm r-ready…"

The band cautiously proceeded into the Sounds territory. After a few moments of walking, everything was nearly pitch black. Though they could barely see the person in front of them, they dared not to speak; the sound nin could be anywhere.

They jumped from tree to tree making as little noise as possible. However, their efforts were in vain. A familiar face was already on to the party.

"Orochimaru-sama," said a sound ninja kneeling, "We have visitors. Five leaf nin, and one Cloud nin. One of the leaf nin resembles Hatake Kakashi."

"Then let us be gracious hosts and treat our guests to some company." He snickered.

"Right away Orochimaru-sama." The sound nin said as he disappeared into a cloud of smoke.

The team was darting around the dark forest; everything seemed to be going fine. Kakashi looked around, and sniffed the air. He shot a quick glance at Kaoshi and shifted the headband to reveal his left eye. Kaoshi nodded, started doing a sequence of hand seals, and kept going. Kakashi fell back to accompany the four teen-agers. He shot a glance at Naruto who, upon seeing his left eye, nodded and looked at the others. After a moment they figured out what was going on.

Kaoshi had it all planned out. The first wave of sound nin would get hit by his genjutsu and be stunned long enough to kill them. Kakashi would do the same in the back. Hopefully, the kids wouldn't do anything dumb and get themselves killed. Then they would get into a defensive formation, with Kakashi and Kaoshi in the front and back, the two boys covering the left and right, and the two girls in the middle for ranged support. It seemed simple enough. As soon as he had finished devising his plan, the worst possible thing happened. Hinata slipped. Fortunately, she landed on her feet.

Then, as if on cue, six sound nin leap out of the bushes and surround Hinata. She quickly activated her Byakugan and got into a closed stance. Another four sound nin followed the first group. Naruto saw this happen and jumped from cover.

"HINATA-CHAN!" He said diving into the circle of shinobi. He landed, kunai drawn, and positioned himself with his back to Hinata's.

Kaoshi looked down and saw the situation. He looked back and saw Lee and Tenten in a similar predicament. Kakashi had his hands full too. Kaoshi looked ahead and saw four sound nin waiting for him. There was only one word that could correctly portray his emotions at that point in time.

"Fuck." He said as the four nin converged on him.

Naruto and Hinata stood back-to-back looking into the faces of ten sound ninja. They all wore the sound shinobi Chuunin jacket. Naruto felt Hinata shivering with fear. Before he could say anything to comfort her, two of them jumped towards Naruto.

Naruto ducked and the first Sand nin's attack went harmlessly over Naruto's head. The second came at him with a kunai. Naruto blocked with his own kunai and parried. This gave him enough time to use his favorite jutsu. He crossed his fingers across his chest.

"KAGE BUNSHIN NO JUTSU!" He yelled as four clones appeared. They quickly surrounded the off-balance ninja. "U!" "ZU!" "MA!" "KI!" The clones yelled as they each kicked him into the air. The real Naruto floated above poised for the last blow. "NARUTO RENDAN!" He yelled as he delivered the final hit.

The sound nin fell to the ground unconscious. He glanced back to see how Hinata was fairing, only to see her collapse to the ground.

"HINATA-CHAN!" He yelled. The Sound nin just laughed.

"Is this all you leaf nin are?" They retorted.

"There's a lot more to us than meets the eye…" Naruto said, fighting to control his anger.

"Not much to this one," said one of them as he kicked her.

"DON'T YOU TOUCH HER!" Naruto yelled, holding back the Kyubi with all his will power.

"Oh, we'll do MORE than touch her once we're through with you and your friends." They all started laughing.

Naruto snapped. The Kyubi chakra started to leak out. He looked up at them with his red eyes and said,

"Once you're done with ME? Hah, I can take all of you single handedly." He said with a wild smile.

"You seem pretty confident SQUIRT." They said chuckling. The nine remaining sound nin got ready, "Let's see you back up that confidence."

Naruto sneered. "Well, at least I have some faith in myself. The only reason you guys are so confident is cuz there's nine of you." He chuckled. "It took nine of you to take out one little girl. Now THAT is tough."

"SHUT YOUR MOUTH YOU ASSHOLE!" One yelled as he charged Naruto. "WHAT DO YOU KNOW!" He swung at Naruto who sidestepped and jabbed a kunai with an explosive tag attached to it into his back. He then kicked him into the air and watched the explosion. Naruto laughed.

"Apparently I know how to kick your ass." To this comment, another of the sound shinobi rushed him.

"Take this you cocky bastard!" The nin's punch collided with Naruto's face, which turned into a log. "Wha--? Replacement jutsu!" Naruto appeared behind him smiling.

"Hidden Leaf Ancient Taijutsu Supreme Technique!" Naruto yelled as he jammed an explosive kunai into the rear end of the shinobi. "ONE THOUSAND YEARS OF PAIN!" The sound nin flew into the air and exploded. Naruto stood up and glared at the remaining seven sound nin. "Three down," He said with an evil grin.

Two more attacked him, one punched with his left arm, the other with his right. Naruto leaned back, dodging the punches, and jammed two more explosive kunai into the arms of the two attacking sound nin, trapping them together. The two tags exploded, blowing away their arms and most of their torsos.

"Who's next?" asked Naruto, who at this point was more Kyubi than he was himself.

"I've got this one." Said a rather large sound nin coming from the back.

"Kayake! This one isn't worth your time! We can…" The big ninja grabbed him by the face.

"You obviously CAN'T take him." He yelled. "I've already lost four of you to him! I won't lose any more!" The big man put the Chuunin sound nin down. "Okay BOY, I promise this will be over quickly." He charged.

"You're right," Naruto said, as he easily dodged the attack and rammed a rasengan down his throat. "It was over fast." The blood-covered Naruto stood glaring at the remaining five shinobi. "So?" he growled. "Is that it?" The last of the group fell all over themselves trying to run away. Naruto watched them go as he heard a noise at his feet. It was the sound nin he had K.O.d earlier. He grinned as he jabbed an explosive kunai into him and flung him at his teammates. "Present for ya." He said as the kunai exploded.

Naruto walked over to Hinata. She was still breathing. A wave of relief washed over Naruto. The Kyubi's presence in him faded away. He looked at her for a moment. She really WAS cute. After a few moments she opened her pale gray eyes.

"N-Naruto-kun?" She said, immediately snapped awake in response to seeing him covered in blood. "A-are you okay!"

"I'm fine." Naruto said with his trademark grin. "I'm gonna be Hokage, these guys are nothing compared to me."

Hinata looked around. She saw the corpses of the ten sound nin. Wide eyed she asked,

"N-Naruto-kun? Did YOU do all this?" Naruto looked around at what was left of the bodies.

"When they knocked you out…" he said ashamed, "I kind of lost it…and I killed all of them…I don't even remember what I did…it just happened so fast…"

"N-Naruto-kun…"

"Hey guys!" Lee yelled as he came out of a bush, carrying Tenten on his back.

"Hey Lee." Said Naruto. "You guys look a little beat up."

Lee smiled, "Yeah, they sent 7 Chuunin after us." He pointed to himself. "but they where no match for me and Tenten!" Tenten smiled and nodded.

"Lee really did all the work…I just got hurt."

"Nonsense! You gave me the motivation to win!" He smiled, "That's something!"

"Haha, sounds mildly familiar…" Said Naruto. "So, do you know where Kakashi or that other guy are?"

"I saw Kakashi-sensei run off into the forest, and that other guy I have no clue." Said Tenten.

"Great…" Naruto said, "Now what are we gonna do?"

"U-umm…We could try and find them…" Hinata said.

"Naw…Then we could get lost." Naruto pointed out.

"If only there was a way to stay here and go looking without moving…" said Lee.

"OH!" Naruto yelled. He broke out a scroll and bit his thumb. He placed it on the scroll and slid it down till the end, causing a long trail of blood. "Summoning no jutsu!" yelled Naruto. A little frog appeared.

"Great idea Naruto-kun!" Said Lee.

"What do you want!" asked the frog. Naruto explained the situation and the frog hopped off in search of the two men.

"What now?" Asked Hinata. Naruto looked at her.

"We wait."

Chapter 4: To Hell and Back Again

Kakashi stood in the middle of a circle of corpses panting.

"Damn…I didn't think they'd send four Jounin after me." Kakashi stood catching his breath. "Dammit…I'd better find the kids." He moved his forehead protector back over his eye. He started off in the direction in which he had last seen them. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a little frog. He picked it up.

"HEY YOU!" It yelled, "Put me down!"

"That's no way to talk to someone bigger than you," Kakashi said, "For all you know, I might EAT you if you annoy me."

"H-HEY! I'm just doing what that yellow-haired brat told me to do!" Kakashi looked at him in surprise.

"Naruto! He's okay? What about the other kids? Where there any other kids with him?"

"Y-yeah. There was a meek lookin' girl with short black hair and gray eyes, a kid with HUGE eyebrows, and a girl that had buns in her hair." Kakashi sighed a sigh of relief.

"Good. Which direction?" Kakashi said putting the frog down.

"Just follow me." It said.

Naruto, Hinata, Lee, and Tenten all sat in a circle. They were talking about the mission.

"How did WE get this mission anyway?" Complained Naruto. "I mean this has to be an 'S' ranked mission at LEAST!"

"Yeah," said Lee. "But it's good training!" Lee said with fire in his eyes.

"That's the spirit Lee!" Agreed Tenten.

"A-at least the company is good," Hinata said with a smile. They all looked at her. It was very out of character for her to say something like that. Naruto put Hinata in a headlock and started to give her a noogie.

"Hey! That's the way to be Hinata-chan!" Her face turned bright red. She looked around and noticed that everyone was laughing. She gave a little smile before joining in.

A rustle in the bushes suddenly interrupted the group's fun. In an instant, Lee and Naruto were on their feet ready to fight. Kakashi came out of the bushes. Everyone let out a sigh.

"Hey there." Said Kakashi. "how is everyone?"

"Fine Kakashi-sensei." Said Naruto. Kakashi walked up to the group and inspected everyone. Naruto noticed something odd about Kakashi's face, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

"Glad to see you're all right Kakashi-sensei." Said Lee.

"Well, this Sharingan of mine…" Naruto interrupted him.

"THAT'S IT!" He yelled as he nailed his sensei in the face with a wheel kick sending him flying.

"Naruto! What the HELL?" Kakashi said.

"Kakashi-sensei's Sharingan is in his LEFT eye. Not his right." And sure enough, the headband was over the Kakashi impersonator's right eye.

"Dammit!" Yelled the sound nin as he turned back into his normal form. "I'll get you!" He lunged at them. When he was about ten feet away, the real Kakashi appeared behind him and yelled,

"Hidden Leaf Ancient Taijutsu Supreme Technique! 1,000 YEARS OF PAIN!" Which sent the sound nin reeling into a tree trunk, knocking him out.

"Now THAT is the real Kakashi-sensei." Said Naruto with a smile.

"Alright everyone, you've had enough time to relax, It's time to move out." Said Kakashi.

"What about that Kaoshi guy?" Tenten asked.

"He's fine. He and I went through this last night. If we get separated from him, we head north till we hit the ocean, then head east. That should bring us to a small neutral country just southwest of the Lightning Country."

"You've got this all planned out. Don't you…" Asked Naruto.

"A good Ninja is always prepared Naruto?"

"Isn't that the boy scout motto?"

"No, It was ours first." Kakashi said angrily. "…thieving bastards."

"So…North?" Lee asked.

"Yes," Kakashi said, with his usual, pleasant demeanor. "Let's move out." Kakashi said heading north. "I want to get the hell out of this country by nightfall."

"K-Kakashi-sensei… don't we have to worry about any more sound ninja?" Hinata asked quietly.

"Of course we do." Said Kakashi. "But It's much less likely now. We've killed every last attacker. So there are none left to bring back the news of their defeat, or victory. My guess is that they'll wait till tomorrow before sending anyone else out. Hopefully by then, we'll be long gone."

"…isn't that just a speculation Kakashi-sensei?" Asked Lee.

"Yup." He said. "We could STILL be attacked at any second. I'm just saying that the chances are in our favor at the moment."

"Gee, that makes me feel so much better." Sighed Naruto.

Hinata looked up at Naruto. He was walking next to her with his pouting face on. She giggled slightly. All of a sudden her head started to swirl, she started to lose her balance and fell into Naruto.

"H-Hey! What's the big…" he stopped and looked at her. She was sweating and more pale than usual. He took off his headband, brushed Hinata's hair off of her forehead, and placed his forehead to hers. Her face turned bright red. "You're feverish," He said. Hinata just stared at him. "Hey! Kakashi-sensei! Hinata's gotta fever!"

Kakashi walked over to her. "Hmm…" He said. "Hinata, give me your right arm please." Hinata complied. Kakashi pushed up her sleeve to reveal a bloodstained bandage. He slowly took it off and looked at the wound. It was red and swollen. "Yup, just as I thought." Kakashi said. "Poison."

"W-WHAT!" Yelled Naruto. "POISON!"

"Yes, poison Naruto." Kakashi made a few seals for an analyzing jutsu. "Hmm…it's not serious." He said after a moment. "But we're going to need to keep you from moving around too much… after all, any poison can cause severe damage if not treated properly." Kakashi said as he took some fresh bandages out of his pack. He started to wrap Hinata's arm when he noticed she was crying.

"T-this always happens…" She said through her sobs. "I'm always so useless…"

"Hinata-chan…" Said Naruto.

"It's always me," she continued. "Never anyone else. Even when we had C ranked missions, Kiba and Shino would always end up having to save me. I just can't do anything…" She stopped for a moment to catch her breath. "I wish I didn't come on this stupid mission!" She said finally.

"All done." Kakashi said as he finished bandaging her arm. "I suppose I'll have to carry you…" Kakashi went to go pick up Hinata when Naruto stopped him.

"I'll do it Kakashi-sensei." He said with a smile.

"Any particular reason Naruto?" Kakashi asked.

"Yeah. You're the strongest of us, so it makes sense that you be the most mobile." Naruto said. "Right?"

"I suppose," Kakashi said. "But can you handle it?"

"Phht." Naruto scoffed, "I'm gonna be the Hokage Kakashi-sensei. Carrying Hinata-chan will be easy for me."

"N-Naruto-kun?" She asked as he kneeled down with his back to her.

"Hop on Hinata-chan." He said with his smile. She climbed up onto his back, riding piggyback. "I'm all set here Kakashi-sensei." Said Naruto.

"Okay. We can STILL make it out of here by nightfall if we don't make any more stops." He looked at them, "Am I clear?" They all nodded. With that, they left.

They group was going along at a good pace. Kakashi in front, Lee who was still carrying Tenten, and Naruto and Hinata in the back. Naruto did this intentionally, so that she could cry without everyone else watching. Her tears were starting to leak through his shirt. He glanced over to her. She had buried her head into his shoulder. Naruto sighed.

"Hinata-chan?" No answer. "I know you're upset Hinata-chan." He said as tenderly as possible. "I know how you feel too." She remained silent. "Back when we first became Genin, I was always messing up. Sasuke was always saving me. It pissed me off." He noticed that her sobs had stopped. "So, one day…I just got so fed up with being useless…that I decided something. I took an oath that I would never have to be rescued again. But no matter how hard I tried, I always messed up." Hinata shifted her head so that she could see his face. "I couldn't figure it out. Was I just that weak? I thought that was my problem so I trained. But no matter what I did, Sasuke always had to save me." He smiled weakly.

"Naruto-kun?" She said shakily.

"But, every time he saved me. It motivated me to try harder, so that one day, he wouldn't HAVE to save me." His smile grew wider. "I said to myself, 'One day Sasuke, there will be a Naruto who doesn't need to be saved. A Naruto, who instead of making stupid mistakes and getting angry about them, would remember them and learn from them." He looked Hinata in the eyes and said, "Every mistake is a lesson given to you by a hard teacher. The more lessons he gives to you, the more he'll force you to learn. Cuz you never know when he's gonna give you a pop quiz, and if you didn't study, you'll fail. And in the world of Shinobi, failing doesn't mean taking the class over again. It means you die."

"W-what are you trying to say Naruto-kun?"

"What I'm trying to say, Hinata-chan, is that you need to take each mistake you make, analyze it, figure out how and why it happened, and learn from it." He smiled. "If what you're saying, about you always making mistakes even more than me is true. And you do what I just told you. You'll become an even better ninja than me."

Hinata just looked at him for a second before burying her head in his shoulder again.

"Naruto-kun?"

"Yeah Hinata-chan?"

"…thanks."

"Hehe, no problem." He smiled, "And about you wishing you never came on this mission…I think the only person who thinks that is you." He stopped, "Well, at least I'm glad you came."

"…N-N-Naruto-k-kun…" she stuttered, face completely red. She buried her head deeper into his shoulder in hopes that he wouldn't notice.

"Not far now!" Kakashi yelled from up ahead, "I can smell the ocean so we're getting close!"

"Awesome." Said Naruto.

Fifteen minutes later, the group arrived at the ocean. The sun was already bleeding across the sky.

"Hmm… I'd say we have less than two hours of daylight left…" said Kakashi. "Think we can make it?"

"Hell yeah!" Said Naruto giving thumbs up.

"All right," Kakashi said, "Let's go."

After two uneventful hours, the company reached the Sound Country border. The sun was down already so they easily spotted some lights from a village.

"Think we can get rooms for the night?" Asked Naruto.

"Possibly," said Kakashi, "But we'll have to take off our headbands before we go in."

Naruto hated the thought, but agreed nonetheless. Hinata and Tenten were already asleep, so it Lee and Naruto made a big production out of getting their headbands off without waking them up. They succeeded after about ten minutes.

While all that was happening, Kakashi took the opportunity to put on a disguise, as not to be recognized as the renowned "Copy Ninja." All he did was take of his Jounin jacket and Konoha forehead protector. He replaced the protector with just a regular blue headband. So, Kakashi was just wearing a black t-shirt, a mask, and pants.

"Okay you guys," The transformed Kakashi said, "Let's go." They set off towards the village.

Chapter 5: Room and Bored

The group wandered through the town. It was a small, poor town, but everyone seemed friendly. People welcomed the group into their town asking questions of various sorts. The most common response was, "Just passing through." One man directed the party to a small inn called "The happy dog's inn and Tavern". Kakashi liked the name and decided to spend the night there.

It didn't take them long to find it. It seemed to be the only place for adults to get a drink though. They walked through the doors, a few heads turned to look at them but quickly back to what they were doing.

Kakashi walked up to the bar. The burly bartender looked at him frowning.

"How would I go about getting some rooms?" He asked.

"That depends on if you got money, and how many people." Said the bartender.

Kakashi put some money on the counter. "Five, two women and three men. Separate rooms if that could be possible."

The bartender smiled, "Well I've only got two rooms available. They're right next to each other." He handed Kakashi two keys. "Rooms 204 and 206. You and the two boys will be in room 206."

"Thank you very much sir." Kakashi said.

"No problem," said the man, "Just don't go messing up my rooms."

"Will do." Said Kakashi, "Come on." He said to the boys. They followed him up to the rooms. Kakashi unlocked the door to the girls' room. "After you put them down on the beds and come into our room."

"Kakashi-sensei," said Naruto with concern in his voice. "What about the poison in Hinata?"

"She hasn't moved in a few hours." Kakashi said, "It was a weak poison and will have minimal effect at this point. She'll be fine after a nights rest."

Naruto sighed with relief.

A few minutes later Lee and Naruto walked into the room. Kakashi was already asleep.

"…That was fast…" said Lee.

"I'm not really sure why, but his Sharingan uses up a lot of chakra…"

"Oh." Lee looked over at the other bed. "So…who gets the other bed?" He asked.

"Huh?" Naruto looked at it then at Lee. "I'm too tired to fight for it, you can have it." Naruto said and sat down in the chair by the window.

"Thanks Naru…" But Naruto was already asleep. "Hmmm, we DID have a rough day…" A few moments later Lee was out cold too.

When Naruto woke, the sun was already high in the sky. He could hear birds chirping outside as he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. He looked around the room. Kakashi was already gone. There was a note on the dresser. Naruto picked it up and started to read it.

Dear kids,

I'm off trying to find Kaoshi. You're free to wander the town if you can stay out of trouble. Try to get back to the inn before nightfall.

Kakashi

P.S. I mean it, don't get into trouble Naruto.

Naruto made a face and crumpled the letter.

"I don't get into trouble anymore…" He said walking over to Lee. "Lee, get up." Lee rolled over in bed ignoring Naruto. "Ugh." Naruto got a cup of cold water from the bathroom and dumped it on Lee. Needless to say, Lee woke up.

"What?" Lee shook his head splattering water everywhere. "How are you?"

Naruto stared blankly at Lee. "Umm…fine." He rolled his eyes. It was almost impossible to take Lee seriously unless he was fighting. The eyebrows and all… "Lets go wake up Hinata-chan and Tenten." Naruto and Lee left their room. Naruto knocked on the door. There was a voice from inside.

"HOLD ON!" It was Tenten. "We'll be out in a minute!" she yelled again.

Fifteen minutes later, they still weren't ready. Naruto and Lee were sitting against the wall waiting.

"God damn!" complained Naruto, "How long does it take them to get ready?" The door behind them opened.

"It takes as long as it takes! Jeez." They turned around and looked at the girls. Upon seeing them, both of their jaws dropped. Tenten was in a pink kimono with red flowers on it. Not far behind her was Hinata, who was wearing a light blue kimono with yellow flowers on it. Not only that, she had her hair pulled back in a very short ponytail. Aside from Hinata's face being bright red, the two girls made quite a sight. "Judging by your faces, I think you agree that the wait was worth it. Hmm?"

Naruto grumbled, not wanting to agree. Lee nodded with a smile.

"You bet Tenten!"

"You really think it looks good Lee?" She said blushing.

"Yes you both look great!" Tenten giggled and hopped over to the stairs.

"So?" she said, "Shall we?" The young shinobi walked out of the inn onto the road.

"So, where should we go?" asked Naruto.

"We were up early this morning, so I took the opportunity to ask the barkeeper if there were any good shops around." Said Tenten. "There's a market up the road a bit."

Tenten started to walk off dragging Hinata behind her. Naruto looked at Lee.

"Just like girls…clothes and shops…" Naruto started after her Tenten and Hinata. Lee was not far behind.

It wasn't long before they found the market. It was the center of the village and took up about 60 of the entire village. Tenten was in heaven. The Konoha was not known for its variety of shopping choices, seeing so many selections, she about died.

Then Tenten got a brilliant idea. "Let's split up!"

"Huh?" Naruto said confused, "why?"

"A bigger group is more suspicious right?" she pointed out. "If we're supposed to be incognito, we should try to draw as little attention to ourselves as possible."

"That makes sense…" Lee said.

"Also if Hinata and I split up, we can each take half of the market and meet in the middle and tell each other where the good shops are so we save time!"

"You know Tenten…You're the queen of ulterior motives," said Naruto.

"So, do me and Lee and you two sound fine?" She said ignoring Naruto.

"Whatever." Said Naruto, who wasn't thrilled to be shopping in the first place, let alone shopping without Lee around to talk to.

"Okay, so see you in like five hours?" Tenten asked. Before anyone could answer she added, "Great! Later Hinata! Later Naruto!" She dragged Lee away into the crowded area.

Naruto looked at Hinata. "Do you even like shopping?" He asked.

"N-no…not really." She said looking down.

"Great!" Naruto yelled, "Me too! Now we don't have to go shopping right?"

"What else is there to do?" She asked him.

"What else ISN'T there to do?" He said grabbing her by the arm and pulling her. "Let's go have some fun!"

"W-what!" Hinata was confused. "What do you mean 'have fun'?"

"We're just gonna goof off!"

"G-goof off!" Hinata wasn't sure what that meant.

During those five hours. Naruto showed Hinata the finer points of pranking. They played practical jokes on a lot of people. He taught her how to determine a good ramen stand from a bad one. They did things that she'd only dreamed of before. They saw a movie, ate lunch together, and for a little while shopped. All things they did that day she thought would happen on a date.

As they were passing a shop Hinata noticed a necklace in the window. She quickly opened her purse and counted her money. She walked up to the counter, Naruto not far behind.

"E-excuse me…sir?" she asked. The owner turned around and looked at her.

"What can I do for you miss?" He said with a smile.

"How much for that one?" She pointed to the necklace.

"That? You've got a good eye miss," He took it out. "Usually something of this quality could easily go for 250 at LEAST! But today, miss, just for you I could part with it for 150."

"Oh…" she only had 80. "Sorry to have bothered you." She started to go out.

"Hey, Hinata-chan?" said Naruto, "You really want that necklace?"

"Yeah…"

"How much do you have?"

"80…"

"Here's the next lesson Hinata-chan." Naruto smiled. "Bargaining."

"Can I see that for a moment?" Hinata turned around to see Naruto looking at the necklace. "250? For an idiot maybe. You couldn't sell this for 70."

"Really now?" He said. "I say I could sell it for 135."

"I don't think so," He said, "You're a smart man and your business tactics are well refined…but I still say no more than 80."

"Hmmm, you're a tough one." Said the storeowner, "120."

"110."

"Done!" The shopkeeper handed over the necklace.

"But I only have 80!" Naruto took the money. She noticed him count it slowly and deliberately. She wasn't too surprised when it came out to 100.

"See?" He showed her, "You have 100, and I'll spot you the other 10." He paid the man and gave Hinata her necklace. "You should count more carefully Hinata-chan." Once they were out of the shop Hinata tugged on Naruto's arm.

"Thank you Naruto-kun." Naruto shrugged.

"It was only 10."

"No Naruto." She stopped, "You didn't have to do that. I saw you slip 20 in there."

"Hehe. Got me." He scratched his head. "You said you really wanted it. And since we've become such good friends on this mission I figured I'd be nice."

_Friends!_ _ Suck good friends!_

"S-still…Thank you." She said with a slight smile.

"No problem Hinata-chan." He grinned his trademark grin and kept walking.

After a while they caught up with Lee and Tenten. It hadn't quite been the five hours, but everyone was beat.

"Let's go back," said Lee. "I'm more tired than I was last night."

"Great idea Lee!" Tenten started rummaging around in her bags, "I bought this great game we can play!"

"Just how much money DID you bring anyways?" Asked Naruto.

"Ummm…I think…900." Her three companions nearly feinted.

"Are you RICH or something?" Yelled Naruto.

"Don't worry, I still have more at the inn." They almost feinted again.

"Speaking of the hotel," Hinata said, "I'll pay you back for lunch and the necklace when we get back."

Naruto patted her on the head, "I already told you not to worry about it."

"Ooh! Necklace! Lemme see!" Tenten was practically manhandling Hinata's neck. "IT'S GORGEOUS! How much did it cost!"

"Well, he wanted to sell it to her at 150, which was way to much."

"150! I would have paid 250 at least!"

"Hinata? Remember what I said when the shopkeeper told us that it was worth 250?"

"Umm…" _250! For an idiot maybe! _ "Yes." Naruto pointed at Tenten,

"I think I just proved my point." Hinata started giggling.

"Naruto that's terrible…"

"But funny." Naruto and Hinata were laughing for a while until Tenten said,

"Look at you two. You look just like a couple."

Silence.

Hinata's face turned bright red. Naruto wasn't too far behind.

"Er-err…Ummm. Maybe, we should go back to the inn now."

"Y-yes! Good idea Naruto!" Hinata said. Hinata and Naruto rushed off towards the inn.

"Great." Said Lee, "Now look what you did…"

"I-it just slipped…"

"Now both of them will be uncomfortable around the other…"

"Let's go back…we might be able to salvage SOMETHING…"

Chapter 6: Three is Company, Four is Just Awkward

Naruto sat alone in the guy's room. He was trying to figure out what had happened that day. Everything was going great until Tenten opened her mouth… It wasn't Tenten's fault though.

Naruto was just plain confused. He wasn't the only one however. Just one room away, Hinata was thinking the exact same thing.

Neither of them could stop thinking about it.

"Why was that so embarrassing!" Naruto yelled, punching the bed. "I mean, if someone said that about me and Sakura, I'd have said YES right on the spot without any thought. In fact if it was most girls, I would have agreed right away…" He hit the bed again. "WHY IS SHE DIFFERENT!" Naruto flopped down on the bed. Good thing Kakashi had put up a sound proofing jutsu around the room the night before or this would have been even more humiliating.

"DAMMIT!" He looked at the ceiling and sighed. Maybe…It wasn't that bad. Them looking like a couple. She was nice, cute, and fairly smart… "NO! THE GIRL I LIKE IS SAKURA! SAKURA!"

"Really Naruto?" Asked Kakashi who was standing by the door. "It seems like you should try to convince YOURSELF of that before you go yelling again."

"Shut up Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto exploded, "What do you know!"

"I know that you're incredibly confused." Kakashi said walking towards him, "You can try to figure this out for yourself, or you can let me try to help you." Naruto glared at him for a moment. He looked at the ceiling again.

"Kakashi-sensei…why is life so confusing?"


	2. Ch6 3 is company 4 is just akward

Hey guys. I'm thinking about doing five chapter bursts. What do you think? I mean, if I really sit and work hard on this, I can pull off 7 pages a night. So just wondering how you's though of that. It consolidates time. Cuz I can't just stop writing after I finish a chapter and all. Whatever. I'm done rambling. THANKS FOR BEING SO NICE TO MY FIRST FIC

I think that chapter 6 is my least favorite chapter so far…blech…such a pain to write…

Chapter 6: Three is Company, Four is Just Awkward

Naruto sat alone in the guy's room. He was trying to figure out what had happened that day. Everything was going great until Tenten opened her mouth… It wasn't Tenten's fault though.

Naruto was just plain confused. He wasn't the only one however. Just one room away, Hinata was thinking the exact same thing.

Neither of them could stop thinking about it.

"Why was that so embarrassing!" Naruto yelled, punching the bed. "I mean, if someone said that about me and Sakura, I'd have said YES right on the spot without any thought. In fact if it was most girls, I would have agreed right away…" He hit the bed again. "WHY IS SHE DIFFERENT!" Naruto flopped down on the bed. Good thing Kakashi had put up a sound proofing jutsu around the room the night before or this would have been even more humiliating.

"DAMMIT!" He looked at the ceiling and sighed. Maybe…It wasn't that bad. Them looking like a couple. She was nice, cute, and fairly smart… "NO! THE GIRL I LIKE IS SAKURA! SAKURA!"

"Really Naruto?" Asked Kakashi who was standing by the door. "It seems like you should try to convince YOURSELF of that before you go yelling again."

"Shut up Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto exploded, "What do you know!"

"I know that you're incredibly confused." Kakashi said walking towards him, "You can try to figure this out for yourself, or you can let me try to help you." Naruto glared at him for a moment. He looked at the ceiling again.

"Kakashi-sensei…why is life so confusing?"

"If I knew that Naruto, I'd be a hell of a lot richer." Naruto glared at him.

"Kakashi-sensei, I understand you're trying to help, but if you're going to be an ass about it then I don't want your help!" Kakashi looked at Naruto. He really WAS confused.

"Oi…" Kakashi walked over to Naruto. "Have you ever been taught about the birds and the bees Naruto?"

"Umm…I know about them. Both of them fly around…" Naruto said making hand gestures of a bird flying. "And one stings you and you swell up…. but what's that got to do with…"

"Not THOSE kinds of birds and bees Naruto." Kakashi said with a sigh. "Well…the birds are…"

"Really?" Naruto asked wish shock on his face.

"Yup." Kakashi said, "And the bees…well they're a whole different story…they're…"

"WHAT!" Naruto jumped back. "T-T-T-T-T-THAT'S GROSS!"

"God…" Kakashi said with a black stare, "Who'd of thought at 15 this kid wouldn't know about the birds and the bees…" Kakashi rested his head in his palm. "Master of Sexy no Jutsu and Harem no Jutsu doesn't know about the birds and the bees…" Kakashi looked at Naruto who was flailing about complaining that Kakashi shouldn't have told him something like THAT. "…As if anything could GET more ironic…"

"And you're telling me that this whole birds and bees deal is going on between me and Hinata!"

"Sort of…"

"But a bird is to big for a bee to…" Naruto was even more confused now. "I'm not a bee!"

"Holy shit you're an idiot Naruto…" Kakashi got up and started to leave.

"Where are you going Kakashi-sensei?"

"You obviously need to get in touch with your pituitary gland." Kakashi walked out. "Later, I'm gonna go look for Kaoshi again. I'll be back by morning, and while I'm gone I want all four of you to stay in this room."

"W-WHAT!" Naruto yelled.

"You heard me. Tell them when they get back." He shut the door behind him.

"Baka…" Naruto said under his breath. Naruto leaned back in his chair and looked at the ceiling once again, only instead of the ceiling he saw Kakashi standing there. "WHAT THE F-!"

"I forgot to tell you that you should try to talk to Hinata. She seems fairly distressed too." Kakashi poofed away in a cloud of smoke. Naruto nearly died of a heart attack.

"Damn him!" Naruto said between breaths. He looked up at the ceiling again. Kakashi wasn't there. He was alone again. He could always go next door and…

"Oi Naruto," said Kakashi as he crawled out from underneath the bed. Naruto jumped to the ceiling and clung.

"K-KAKASHI-SENSEI!" He yelled, "STOP DOING THAT!"

"Sorry, one more thing, that's it I swear." Kakashi put a package on the table. "I need you to watch this for me, don't open it or anything, kay?"

"H-Hai…" Naruto said between pants.

"Excellent," Kakashi said, "Ciao." Was his last word before disappearing once again.

"God dammit." He really hated the idea of going to talk to Hinata. They had spent four hours having great times; they were becoming really good friends. Then it all exploded. He thought about it several times before saying, "What the hell?" He got up and left his room.

Hinata was lying on her bed on the verge of tears. Her perfect day was ruined. Her once in a lifetime experience was over. All she could do now was think about it. Or so she thought.

A knock came at the door. Hinata looked up.

"W-Who is it?"

"It's Naruto. I was bored so I figured I could come over and talk to you?" said the voice outside. "So…c-can I come in?"

"H-Hai…" Hinata walked over to the door and unlocked it. She took a deep breath before saying to herself, _You can do it…_. She opened the door, and there, lo and behold, was the object of her desires. "H-hello Naruto-kun." She said as her face turned bright red. "Come in…"

"Thanks." He said with his classic smile. He walked into the room and sat down on the bed. Hinata followed him and sat adjacent to him on the other bed. They both wanted to say something but neither of them could really find the words to say anything.

Finally Naruto decided that the silence had gone on long enough.

"Hey, Hinata-chan…"

"H-hai Naruto-kun?"

"About what Tenten said…" Hinata looked up so she could see his face. "Let's not get all weird about it, all right?" Hinata blushed and smiled.

"O-okay Naruto-kun."

"Let's just pretend it never happened, the only thing we'll remember from today is all the fun we had, kay?"

"Y-yes…okay." Naruto patted her on the head. "Good. Now that that's all cleared up…" his voice trailed off.

"N-Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked. Naruto responded by placing his index finger over his lips.

"Shh." Naruto crept up to the door and placed his ear to it. Outside he heard two familiar voices. Lee and Tenten. Naruto, not wanting to be caught in the girls' room quickly used a Henge no jutsu and transformed himself into a lamp above the door.

Hinata realized why Naruto was acting so weird when Tenten walked in. She placed her plethora of bags down and looked at the shy girl on the bed. Hinata's face was still flush red.

"Hey Hinata-chan, why are you blushing? It's only me." Tenten said confused.

"N-no reason." Hinata said in a rather unsure tone. Tenten could only think of one reason she'd be blushing. Naruto was somewhere in the room.

"Oh…" Tenten said with a sly look on her face. "So you wouldn't mind me…" Tenten dropped down onto the floor looking under the beds, "LOOKING UNDER THE BEDS!" No Naruto.

"Ummm no…"

"How about…" Tenten flung open the door to the bathroom. "IN THE BATHROOM!"

"A-Are you feeling alright Tenten-kun?" Tenten continued around the room looking for Naruto. Luckily for him, Tenten had left the door ajar because she had so many things to carry. Naruto quickly undid his Henge no Jutsu when Tenten had her back turned, winked at Hinata, and left.

"Well…I guess the room is clean." Tenten said looking at Hinata whose face was even redder than before. "Jeez girl…there's something wrong with you."

Naruto stood outside the girls' room for a moment gloating to himself. "I've still got it!" He said. "The prankster stealth." Naruto opened his door and walked into the room. It was a complete wreck. He looked around at the hellhole that had become his room. In the back corner, was a man, in a black robe with red flowers on it, holding Lee by the neck.

"LEE!" The man turned around and looked at Naruto. His red eyes pierced into Naruto's very being.

"Hello Naruto," Said Uchiha Itachi, "Lovely day, no?"


	3. Ch7?

Hey all. Me again. I've only gotten one more review and I'm starting again. Lol. The crazy thing is, I have absolutely no plan for this whatsoever. It's crazy that anyone finds this interesting. Whatever. Chapter 7.

Yeah I know…I stole the whole Hina-chan bit from Two Halves. I just liked it so much that I couldn't NOT steal it.

That's actually the fic that inspired me to write mine

Chapter 7: When trying to sound cool, try to make sense

Naruto stood in horror as he looked on. Itachi was holding his teammate by the neck. Remembering his fights with Itachi in the past, Naruto readied himself to counter any genjutsu that Itachi might throw. Itachi dropped Lee to the ground and started towards Naruto.

"Do not worry Naruto-kun." Said Itachi. "I'm not here to capture you…today… I've merely come to pick up my package." He said eying the box Kakashi put on the table only an hour before. He changed directions, his motive, the package, only a few inches from his hand.

"HOLD IT!" Yelled Naruto. Itachi stopped and looked at him.

"I have no wish to deal with you today Naruto-kun." Said the Akatsuki member.

"You beat up my friend, and THEN you want to take something that Kakashi-sensei charged me with protecting." He pointed to himself. "Unfortunately for you, I have EVERY wish to deal with you!"

Itachi looked at Naruto and said.

"You DO realize that what you said makes no sense, right?" Naruto almost fell over. "Luckily no one was around for you to embarrass yourself." Itachi moved towards Naruto, his movements graceful as if he was floating. He positioned himself in front of Naruto. "What do you plan on doing to stop me? Hmm?" Itachi tried to use a Genjutsu on Naruto, but it failed. "Hmm, a clone." Itachi turned around, not concerned with the fake Naruto behind him. He looked around for and signs of chakra flow. Nothing.

Itachi looked out the window. Hinata, Tenten, and Naruto who was carrying Lee were running away. Itachi looked over to the table where the box was. It was still there.

"You're getting more clever by the day Naruto-kun." He took the box, "But your negligence will cost you dearly." He said as he opened the box. Inside was a piece of paper, it read:

_Dear Itachi,_

_You suck. I hate you. Go die._

_-Love Naruto_

_P.S. You got owned._

Itachi removed the letter to look underneath. In the box was an explosive tag whose fuse just ran out.

"Dam-" he said as the explosion engulfed him.

To Naruto and company

"What's the big rush Naruto!" Yelled Tenten.

"I'LL EXPLAIN LATER! JUST KEEP RUNNING!" Naruto looked back at the inn, "A_ny second now"…_then, BOOM! A huge explosion came from the side of the inn. "Awesome." Said Naruto.

The group slowed to a stop. Naruto smiled.

"What was THAT Naruto!" Yelled Tenten.

"That," Naruto said with a wink, "Was a victory."

Everyone looked at him. Well, Lee didn't because he was unconscious. Naruto explained what happened.

"So, you have the package Naruto?" Tenten asked.

"Yup!" Naruto showed it off.

"I'll take that." Said Kakashi as he took the package from behind Naruto.

"Hey Kakashi-sensei!" Said Naruto in excitement. "I protected the package just like you asked!"

"Yes, you did." Kakashi said disappointedly. "But I DIDN'T ask you to blow up the inn."

"ACK!" Naruto looked back. Sure enough, there was a giant hole in the side. Luckily, everyone was out and about so no one got hurt. In an attempt to change topics Naruto asked, "So Kakashi-sensei, did you find that Kaoshi guy?"

"Yup. I sure did." Naruto looked around. There was no one even CLOSE to resembling Kaoshi in sight.

"Err…. I don't…" Naruto started.

"Hey everyone!" Kaoshi said as he walked out from an alley. "How are you guys?" They all stared at him.

"Where were YOU!" Naruto yelled.

"Doing stuff." He said. Naruto was about to yell at him but Kaoshi continued, "We should probably leave before they realize who blew up the inn…"

"Agreed," said Kakashi.

On a mountain somewhere

"The got the clone, eh Itachi?" said Kisame.

"Yes," Itachi nodded, "And at 1/3 of my chakra per clone, that's a rather large loss."

"What now?"

"Let's leave them be for a while."

"HE won't like that."

"HE can blow me."

Naruto and company

The group was walking in the woods outside of town. They weren't in any rush seeing as this mission had no real time limit.

"So, Kaoshi." Naruto said, "How long do you think till we get to the lightning country?" Kaoshi turned around, walking backwards, to talk to Naruto.

"I'd say about a day or two at this rate." Kaoshi said scratching his stubbly beard. In the past few days, he hadn't had a chance to shave, so his beard started to grow in.

"Cool," Naruto said. For some reason he liked the idea of being outside for a little bit. Especially being outside with Hina…_NO! NO! NO!_ He yelled at himself. _SAKURA! SAKURA! _He was smashing himself in the head while he had his internal conflict.

Kaoshi walked over to Kakashi. "You know Kakashi. I think the only one who can't see what's going on between those two…are those two."

"Yeah…it's a pain in my ass."

It was summer in the northern areas of the world, birds were chirping, and they kept running into animal life, which Hinata and Tenten just LOVED. Naruto and Lee however, could live without it.

After a while the group set up camp. It was early, but they didn't really care. They were in absolutely no hurry. They pitched their tents and decided to lie down for a while.

Kakashi motioned over to Lee and Tenten. "Hey, why don't you guys go get some firewood?" He said motioning over to Naruto and Hinata who were lying side by side.

"Of course Kakashi-sensei. We'd love to." Lee and Tenten left to go gather firewood. Kakashi motioned over to Kaoshi.

"Err… I'll go scout. See how far we are away from the Lightning Country." He said as he poofed away in a cloud of smoke.

"I feel like sightseeing." Kakashi said. "I'll be back in a bit." The four had left Naruto and Hinata alone in the woods. The four looked on from a safe distance so they wouldn't be seen or heard. Unfortunately, their plan didn't seem as if it would work. Both Naruto and Hinata were out cold.

"Tenten…" said Lee. "see if you can wake Naruto-kun up."

"How would I do that Lee?" Lee handed her a rock.

"Get creative." Tenten threw the rock at Naruto, hitting him in the head.

"Wha-?" He said as he awoke. "Holy Shi-!" he almost screamed as he woke to Hinata's face literally four inches from his. After a moment, when he had calmed down, he looked at her. A strand of hair split her face down the middle.

Naruto sat there for a moment. Finally, he thought, "_Damn…I'd hate to admit it…but that's a face I wouldn't mind waking up to more often…"_ he shook his head. _"But I still like Sakura!" _He looked at her again, _"…I think…"_ He scratched his head. Hinata stirred next to him. He looked over at her. "Hey Hinata-chan." She immediately woke up.

"N-Naruto-kun!" She looked around. They were in a camp. The only person she saw was Naruto. "N-Naruto-kun…where is everybody?"

Naruto looked around having only noticed that they were alone. "I dunno." Naruto said. "They're probably off doing stuff." He scratched his head in thought. "I think that it was Lee and Tenten's turn to get wood…that's all I can think of."

"Y-You don't suppose they left us alone on p-purpose do you?"

"Damn…she's quick." Said Kakashi from a nearby tree.

"Nah." Said Naruto. "Why'd they do something like that?"

"Naruto on the other hand…not so much…" Kaoshi, who was next to Kakashi said. "How long do we give them." Kakashi signaled to Lee and Tenten.

20 minutes.

The pair nodded in agreement and continued to watch the amusing play in front of them.

"Well, I guess I'll go back to sleep," Naruto said with a yawn.

"NO!" Lee, Tenten, Kakashi, and Kaoshi said under their breath. "DO something girl!" As if she heard their prodding Hinata tugged on Naruto's shirt.

"N-Naruto-kun?" she asked.

"Neh? What is it Hinata-chan?"

"A-Actually I was hoping we could chat for a little…"

"YES!" The four hidden in the trees said.

"About what?" Naruto asked

"I don't know…" Hinata said shyly. "Haven't you ever just talked before?" Naruto looked up in thought.

"Not that I can remember." Naruto said. Hinata looked down.

"Oh…" she said quietly. Naruto noticed the change in her voice. In an attempt to cheer her back up he said,

"So…what do you wanna talk about?" he asked her. She looked up at him and smiled a bit.

"U-uhh…I don't know…" Hinata tried her best to think of something. All she could think of was, "I-I don't really know that much about you Naruto-kun…"

Naruto took this as an opportunity to show off. He started to talk…. and talk…. and talk. Hinata though, was happy to just listen. After about ten minutes of sheer unadulterated boring nonsense that Naruto decided to spew forth, he stopped.

"N-Naruto-kun?"

"You know Hinata-chan." He said thinking, "I don't know that much about YOU either." Hinata's face turned bright red.

"Y-y-y-y-you w-w-want to know ab-bout m-me?" She asked stuttering.

"Yeah!" He said with his smile. "C'mon! I just told you a lot about me! It's only fair." He looked at her again. "I mean I hardly know you."

"O-okay…" Hinata was nervous. "_He wants to get to know me better!"_ The thought echoed in her head. "W-well Naruto-kun…" she began. She told him about anything she could think of. Except of course one crucial fact.

When she got to the topic of her childhood, she got quieter and more deliberate with her words. "…my father…he'd train me nonstop." She looked as if she was about to cry. "Weights…laps…everything. It's last all day…" her knuckles were white as they gripped her pants. "But…every night…when I got home…my mother would take me on her lap and I'd just sit there until I fell asleep." The thought of her mother brought a small smile to her face. 'Hina-chan,' she'd say, 'One day, you'll be head of this house and you'll need to be strong. I know you think your father hates you with all of this training, but he's just doing it for your own good…'" she looked down again. "Then…she caught a disease…no one really knew what it was. She was gone in a matter of days…"

Naruto didn't know what it was like to have parents, so he couldn't really relate. He tried to get what she meant. He imagined a world without Kakashi, without Sakura, Sasuke, Iruka, …Hinata. He guessed that's what it must've been like.

"…after she died…" she continued, "…father took his anger out on me, claiming it was my fault. He doubled my training, claiming that since I was almost nine…I had to work harder…" tears started to flow down her cheeks. "He…blamed me…for everything…" She tried to regain her composure, but failed. "…my fault…"

Naruto had heard enough. Gently he positioned himself next-to the crying girl and put his arms around her.

"It's okay Hina-chan." Her tears stopped almost instantly.

"N-Naruto-kun?" she asked surprised, tears still fresh on her cheeks.

"It's not your fault." He said stroking her hair. "Your dad is just a complete asshole." She didn't know what to do. He was hugging her. "There's nothing you could have done." She looked up at him. "I may not know what it's like to have parents." He said with his grin. "But I do know this. Your dad doesn't deserve to have a daughter as cool as you."

"N-Naruto-kun." She said, looking up at him. Naruto looked back at her. There was something different about her. Her face was completely pale. No hints of blush anywhere. "Th-thank you," she said looking down.

"No problem Hina-chan."

Kakashi, Kaoshi, Lee, and Tenten sat awestruck. There were no words to describe what had just happened.

"Damn." Kakashi said. "Now THAT…was smooth..."

"Since when did that kid get cool?" asked Kaoshi.

"Must be all his years hanging out with me…" Kakashi said.

"Phht." Kaoshi said. "The only things you know about women come from those smutty novels you read."

"…Shutup." Kaoshi started to chuckle. Lee and Tenten were just as amazed as Kakashi and Kaoshi.

"That was hot …" said Tenten.

"For lack of a better phrase…yes. That was hot." Lee agreed. Tenten looked at him questionably. Lee looked at her. "I mean that in the least homosexual way possible.

Back to Naruto and Hinata o

Hinata sat in Naruto's arms enjoying every second.

"Naruto-kun…" she said.

"Eh Hina-chan?"

"Why are you calling me 'Hina-chan'?" she said blushing once again.

"I kinda like it, it fits you." Naruto said. "Unless you don't want me to call you that."

"N-no…please." She said, "I don't mind…" she said with a yawn. She was asleep in a few moments, resting her head on Naruto's shoulder.

"That's good…" Naruto said trying to rub the sleep out of his eyes. "Dammit Hina-chan, you got me all tired now…" he did his best to stay awake, but it was in vain. Shortly after, he fell asleep.


	4. Ch8 Of all the times for a nap

Hey fools. Chapter 8. I really don't get why anyone likes this…Lol. Dookey. Whatever. Read and enjoy…or I'll kill you.

Oh by the way. There will be NO Naruto on Hinata action in this fic. So if you're just reading this hoping that there WILL be, I'll save you some disappointment and tell you that there will be NONE!

Chapter 8:

It was already dark out. Traces of the crimson sunset could still be seen in the sky. Kakashi, Kaoshi, Lee, and Tenten sat around the crackling fire.

"I still don't get it." Kakashi said scratching his head. "When did Mr. Immature become a smoothe operator?"

"He probably did it by accident…" Kaoshi said, and then added, "Couldn't be your doing."

"Hey fuck you."

"Hehe."

Kakashi and Kaoshi were the last two awake. Lee and Tenten had both fallen asleep a few minutes before, bored by the silence. Kakashi looked at his old friend. He hadn't seen him in almost ten years. Not since that fateful mission nine years and four months before. Kakashi remembered it down to the minute.

"So…" he said snapping himself out of his daydreams. "How've you been these last 9 years?"

Kaoshi looked at him. Eyes intently locked on Kakashi. "I went to Hell." Kakashi snapped his head up in surprise. "It took me six years to get out."

"H-Hell!" Kaoshi nodded gravely. The swordsman took off his trench coat revealing a series of black metal bands wrapped around his right arm. On every single band, was a seal. He snapped the top band and let it hang. Doing so revealed a faded, but still oh-so-vivid mark.

"Orochimaru…" Kakashi said recognizing the cursed seal. His heart sank. In his absence, one of the few men he had absolute trust in had been cursed for life. "That bastard…"

Kaoshi snapped his bands back on. "For nearly three years I've had these bands on." He said looking away. "Three years of absolute torture. To go with the six of a living Hell." Kakashi looked at his friend. Kakashi felt something he only seldom felt. Remorse.

_**INSIDE NARUTO'S SUBCONCIOUS**_

"**Hey kid…" **said a familiar voice. Naruto groaned. He knew this place all too well. A giant cage with two glowing red eyes and dripping fangs looked at the wild-haired boy.

"What the hell do you want?" He rolled over away from the giant cage in front of him.

**"Just to chat…" **Kyubi snickered. **"I haven't seen you for a while so I thought…"**

"You know…" Naruto said looking over his shoulder at the hulking beast. "There's a REASON for that." The Nine tailed fox made a mocking cry.

**"Aww…Why don't you like me Naruto-kun?"** it said mocking him once again. **"I've saved you a fair amount of times. You could at LEAST show a little gratitude."**

"You saved YOURSELF a fair amount of times." Naruto glared at the beast once again. "Or did you think I forgot that when I die, you go with me?" Kyubi chuckled.

**"You're not as dumb as you look." **Naruto shook off the insult. **"But you know you love how strong I make you."**

"Phht." Naruto scoffed at the idea. "What makes you think that?"

**"If I remember correctly…"** the fox retorted, **"Without me…you wouldn't have been able to save Hinata-chan…"**

"Shutup and leave me alone." Naruto rolled over once again, and then added, "Baka."

**"Hehe."** The fox laughed. **"You always find a way to amuse me little one."** Naruto ignored him trying to get back into the real world. **"But I can assure you THIS Naruto."** The demon paused. **"You WILL need me soon…"**

"We'll see…" Naruto snapped back into reality. The last thing he remembered was the Kyubi's laughter. Naruto thought to himself. _"If he wasn't sealed inside me…I'd kick his ass…"_ Naruto opened his eyes, depressed from his chat with the fox. If it weren't for the fact that Hinata was asleep on his shoulder, he might have considered closing his eyes and going back to sleep.

It was late. The only people up were Kakashi and Kaoshi. Naruto yawned loudly.

"Hey kid." Said Kakashi throwing him some leftover Chinese takeout. "Eat up." Naruto looked at it. Cold shrimp fried rice and some weird dumplings. Great. No matter how cold and gross it was. He was still hungry. With a reluctant sigh he said,

"Thanks Kakashi-sensei." Naruto started to eat the cold food.

"You may want to finish that quickly." Said Kakashi. Naruto looked at him with a confused face. "And when you're done, wake the others." Kakashi said shifting his Konoha headband that had returned to its usual place. Naruto saw the Sharingan and started to snarf down the remaining food.

When he had finished he gently woke up Hinata. "Hey…Hina-chan." He said gently rocking her by the shoulder.

"N-Naruto…kun?" She rubbed her eyes. "W-What time is it?" Naruto looked at the sky. There was no moon.

"Don't know, moon's covered." He said. "Anyways. There's not much time. Wake up Tenten." She looked over to Kakashi, seeing his Sharingan. She caught the drift fairly quickly and proceeded to wake up Tenten.

Naruto woke Lee, who was a very, VERY sound sleeper. Naruto had to punch him in the head to wake him up.

"What's wrong comrade?" Lee asked rubbing his head.

"Shh." Narut placed his hand over Lee's mouth. "We got trouble." Kakashi looked over towards Hinata.

"Hinata…If you would."

"Y-Yes Kakashi-sensei." She activated her Byakugan. What she saw almost made her feint. There were at least fifty chakra signatures around them. She let out a frightened gasp before looking at Kakashi.

"So?" Kakashi said seriously. "What's the damage?"

"…F-fifty…" Hinata said nervously. "…A-at least."

"Fuckin…" Kakashi started, "Of all the…" Kaoshi stood up, hand on his blade.

"Come now Kakashi." He said with a wild smile. "Think of old times. We've handled worse."

It was true. But back then they didn't have young, still green, ninja to protect.

"Yeah…" he said. "But…"

"I know." Kaoshi said. "Lee. Naruto." The two boys snapped to attention. "I want you and the girls to stay in a group. It'll increase your overall chances." They all gave a slight nod. "Kakashi and I will stay near you and provide backup when needed."

Everyone stood ready. Waiting for the worst. It seemed like an eternity. Sweat rolled down Naruto's back. He shifted his weight so he could move on a moment's notice. He was in deep concentration. Nothing could-

**"Hey kid."** Kyubi said from inside him.

_"Can this wait?" _Naruto said angrily. _"I'm not in the best of situations."_

**"Duh." **The fox said. **"That's why I'm giving you a present."**

_"Huh?"_ Naruto was shocked. Kyubi? Give HIM a present? There had to be a catch. Kyubi sensed his doubt.

**"Don't worry kid, there's no catch"** Kyubi smiled giving Naruto a bad case of nausea. **"It's a stronger version of you favorite jutsu."**

_"W-what!" _ Naruto was even more shocked. _"W-why?"_

**"Think of it as a 'thank-you' for letting me live in your body."**

_"Whatever…"_ The Fox chuckled. Suddenly three seals appeared in Naruto's mind. The first was dragon, the second was boar, and the third was the Kage Bunshin seal. _"What's it do?"_ Naruto asked curiously.

**"Use it and find out." **The demon fox said with a grin. Naruto spit on the ground.

As if that was what they had been waiting for, eight nin burst into view, charging the kids.

_"Here goes nothing…"_ Naruto said to himself. _"I hope this doesn't give me diarrhea…"_ He ran of the seals. Eight clones appeared and rushed the oncoming shinobi.

"Just a Kage Bunshin?" said one of the approaching ninja, "too easy." He cut through the clone with a kunai and started to run again. However, before he could do anything, the remains of the clone exploded causing the ninja to collapse from the burns.

"Hot." Said Naruto grinning. _"Hey Kyubi." _Naruto said to the fox sealed in his stomach. _"Thanks."_ The Nine tailed demon laughed.

**"It was a one time deal. Don't expect anything else from me."**

_"Duly noted."_ He redirected his attention to the startled shinobi in front of him. They didn't seem as confident now that they were dealing with exploding clones.

"What WAS that!" One of them yelled. Naruto smirked.

"THAT was a move I've been working on." He pointed to himself. "I call it the Hokage Bunshin no Jutsu." He liked that name, especially since it reminded him of Baa-chan back home. "What do you think?"

**"Way to take all the credit…"**

_"Neheh. I can't let them know that YOU made it."_ Kyubi just remained silent.

"I THINK," said one of them. "That a jutsu of that caliber takes up QUITE a bit of chakra."

_"Damn." _Naruto said to himself. _"He's right. I'm already out of breath."_

"AND," the cocky ninja continued. "We still outnumber you. What say you to THAT!"

Four more of them charged.

"I SAY…" Naruto said. Naruto did the seal for Kage Bunshin. "That you guys are outta your league." Four Narutos appeared and kicked the closest ninja into the air. "U!" "ZU!" "MA!" "KI!" The real Naruto appeared above the already unconscious shinobi. "NARUTO RENDAN!" He yelled as he delivered the last kick.

Lee had already defeated his attacker with the Primary Lotus, Tenten had impaled hers with several kunai, and Hinata, with some help from Naruto, who distracted him with his clones, had sealed her attacker's chakra points.

The remaining two shinobi looked on in awe as their companions fell. In the past few weeks the ragtag team had become a fairly effective fighting unit.

"You know Naruto." Said Lee. "You should use something other than that Naruto Rendan of yours. You should try other Taijutsu combos."

Naruto grumbled. That was the only Taijutsu combo he knew. However, his spirits boosted when he saw the faces of the last two ninja.

"So." Naruto said grinning. "Who's next?" The remaining two ninja ran only to be cut down in a rain of kunai. Four Ninja leapt from the trees above, surrounding the Konoha Nin. Each of them wore a Sound Village Jounin vest.

"That'd be us." One of them said.

"You HAD to ask, DIDN'T you Naruto?" Tenten said angrily.

"Don't worry," another retorted. "This'll be over fast."

Naruto spit. Kakashi and Kaoshi were nowhere to be found. They probably were taking on two elite sound jounin each.

"Dammit." Naruto said as the Sound Jounin approached, weapons drawn. They were approaching slowly. They didn't expect the group to put up much of a fight. That pissed Naruto off.

One of the Jounin walked up to Naruto. He looked up. This jounin was a woman. In her twenties, Naruto estimated. She whispered in a sexy voice,

"I'll make sure that your death is painfully slow." She drew a resonating katana, standard issue to sound jounin, for a deathblow. "Any last words?"

Naruto smiled. "Yeah." Naruto lunged... The sound jounin slashed down and sliced him in half.

"N-NARUTO-KUN!" Hinata yelled as tears streaked down her face.

The Sound Jounin laughed triumphantly. Her revelry however, was short lived, as Naruto, who had just been sliced in half, tuned into a log. She spit at where he had stood only seconds before.

Four Naruto clones jumped up from underground. "U!"

"Not again…" said Lee.

"ZU!"

"Looks like it…" said Tenten.

"MA!" "KI!" She flew into the air. "NA!" "RU!" "TO!" three more clones came from the sky and punched her towards the ground. "SU!" "PER!" two more clones came from the ground kicking her back up. "RA!" "SEN!" "GAN!" The three clones in the air kicked her back down. The real Naruto erupted from the earth holding a giant rasengan. "RENDAN!" he yelled as he smashed it into her face causing it to warp, rip apart, and eventually come off.

The headless body of the jounin flew into the air and landed by her comrades. Naruto grinned, his light blue eyes glowing in the darkness.

Lee and Tenten stared at Naruto.

"Naruto?" asked Lee. "Did you just make that up?"

Naruto scratched his head. "Maybe…"

"Naome?" the remaining sound jounin looked at the decapitated corpse of their fallen comrade.

"Who's next?" he said playfully.

"After an attack like that," on of the three said. "You're totally wasted." There were two grunts of agreement from the other two.

Naruto smiled again. "That may be so…" he pointed to himself, "but I'm only a Genin." The three jounin stepped back.

"Wh-what!"

"That's right." Naruto said, lying through his teeth. "You don't WANT to know what these guys can do. They're all at least FOUR TIMES as strong as me." The three Jounin stepped even more.

"H-he's bluffing." One of them said.

"Y-yeah! Konoha Ninjas are weak!"

"If we're so weak…" Hinata said catching on to Naruto's plan quickly. "How come one of our WEAKEST genin was able to kill one of your jounin?" She said with uncharacteristic confidence.

_"Nice Hinata…"_

"You're just bluffing! I know it!"

"Yeah!"

"We can take them!"

_"Damnit…"_Naruto said to himself _"Almost had them too…"_ The three jounin rushed the four leaf nin. _"This doesn't look good…"_

All of a sudden, a streak of light sliced through the three jounin. Blood started to spew from gashes that appeared from nowhere. They were dead in a matter of seconds.

"What the…?" said Naruto. He noticed a figure walking from the direction the streak of light had gone. Naruto and company got ready for another fight.

"Hey guys," said Kaoshi walking out of the bushes sheathing his sword. A huge sigh of relief washed among the young shinobi. Kaoshi had taken a few hits, but it was nothing serious. His trench coat was gone, lost somewhere.

"Thank GOD it's you." Tenten said relieved.

"Hehe, yeah." Kaoshi said scratching his head. "I got a little tied up. Two elite sound jounin and all."

"Same here." Kakashi said as he came into the clearing. "Good everyone's still okay." Kakashi walked over towards the group. None of them had sustained any damage. "Not bad." Kakashi said. "It seems like we're all okay."

"I'm kinda tired Kakashi-sensei…" Naruto said slightly dizzy from his Super Rasengan Rendan. A familiar voice came from the shadows around them.

"Aww. Naruto's sleepy?" it said mockingly. "Well, I'll see what I can do for you." Without warning, darts rained from the heavens. Kakashi tried to dodge them but there were too many. He was hit. He started to get lightheaded.

"Tranquiliz…er…" he said as he collapsed.

"Ugh…" Naruto was the last one standing however; it was only a matter of seconds before he fell. "Wh-Who a-are you?"

"Who am I?" The voice said again. "I'm hurt Naruto-kun." He stepped out into the clearing, glaring at Naruto with the glowing red eyes of the Sharingan.

"Sa…suke?" Naruto said with his last ounce of strength as he collapsed.


	5. Ch9 And so that sucked

Chapter 9: And so that sucked

And so that sucked.


	6. Ch10 Home Sweet Hell

Regarding all you people who are angry about chapter 9…tough luck. It's an awesome chapter. It's my fic, not yours. Anyway, now that THAT's outta the way… I give you an ACTUAL chapter.

Chapter 10: Home sweet Hell

Kaoshi stirred in from his artificially induced nap. He felt like he had been drinking for the past three days straight. He looked around trying the rub the grogginess away. He was in a holding cell. There was a chakra absorption seal on the door.

"Fuck…" he looked at his waste. "Of course." His blade was gone. The cell looked familiar. He looked at the wall and grimaced as old memories resurfaced. On the wall were several scratches representing days. There had been exactly 2,195 scratches. Six years and five days. "He thinks he can break me." Kaoshi said to himself. He looked down. "He's probably right…" he said gravely. "Welcome back to hell…" he said to himself.

To Naruto and Hinata 

Naruto slowly woke up after being incapacitated by Sasuke. _"Ugh…" _He said to himself. _"Where the Hell am I?"_ He was in the corner of a cell looking out. _"Dammit…"_ He looked to his right, _"I wonder where everyone else is…"_ he turned his head to the right.

"SHI-!" he was greeted by the face of a still unconscious Hinata. This was the third time he woke up to her face right next to his. This time, however, was different. There were steel bars between their faces. Naruto flicked the metal bar. "Ow…" The bar resonated a little. "Why is it that we always end up together…?" Naruto sighed as he looked around again. "Doesn't look to promising at the moment…" Next to him, Naruto heard something move. It was Hinata.

"Neh Hina-chan…" Naruto said in a subdued manner. "Glad to see you're all right."

"N-Naruto-kun?" Hinata said still half asleep. "W-where are we?"

"I haven't the slightest." Naruto said trying to fake a smile. "But I'm sure we'll be fine…" Hinata instantly noticed the lack of sincerity in his smile.

"You don't know do you Naruto-kun?"

"Wha-?" She saw through him so easily.

_"How the-?"_ Naruto asked himself confused. _"How did she see through me so easily?"_

"Hina-chan…" He looked at her, his face turned slightly red. _"What's this feeling?"_ He continued to look into the almost lavender eyes of the girl sitting next to him. _"I can't put my finger on it…"_

"N-Naruto-kun?" she asked concerned. "A-are you okay?" Naruto snapped back into reality.

"Huh? What?" he said shaking his head. "I must still be groggy…"

"It's okay Naruto-kun." She said. Naruto looked at her again

"There it is again…that feeling…" 

"Thanks Hina-chan," he said with a real smile. She responded with her usual blush.

"To be honest Naruto-kun." Hinata said shakily, "I'm scared. What's going to happen to us?" she leaned over and buried her head into her knees.

"Hina-chan," Naruto said. He reached through the bars and places his hand on top of hers. "Everything will be fine." He smiled. "I promise."

"N-Naruto-kun." Hinata said with a smile. "R-right…"

"Aww, how touching." Said the second to last voice he had heard. Naruto turned and glared at his former comrade.

"Sasuke…" Naruto stood and rushed to the door. "HOW COULD YOU DO IT SASUKE!" Naruto grabbed the door. A flash of light sent him flying back into the wall. "Wha-?"

"Chakra binding seal." Sasuke said. "And since you REEK of chakra, you will hardly be able to move." Sasuke chuckled maniacally.

"You bastard." Naruto spit at him.

"I wouldn't do that Naruto-kun." Sasuke retorted. "I have the keys." He said grinning. "AND…" he continued. "…Orochimaru-sama has given me permission to do what I wish with the prisoners."

"Do what you want to me, I don't care."

"It wasn't YOU I was referring to." He looked over at Hinata. "I had something else in mind…" Hinata drew back shaking.

"Sasuke!" Naruto leapt up. "If you so much as TOUCH her…" Sasuke chuckled and started to walk away.

"Just keep this in mind Naruto." He opened the door, "I own you." Sasuke left. His maniacal laughter was audible for a few more moments. It was like poison to Naruto.

"N-Naruto-kun…" Hinata said gently.

Naruto sat in shock. How could this have happened? Sasuke was his closest friend, he had even said so himself…so why was he acting this way?

Naruto was terribly upset. Hinata or anyone else for that matter could tell. She was the only one there to comfort him, but she didn't know how. He had done so much for her. All she wanted was to do something for him in return, and finally she got the chance, and can't do a thing.

The rest of the day past in the same manner. Naruto's confidence seemed nonexistent, Hinata tried to get up the courage to say something but failed each time, and Kaoshi sat in his cell looking at the ground. He had already added a mark to the wall.

"2,196…" he said to himself.

Back in Konoha 

"Tsunade-sama." Gai said knocking on the Hokage's half open door. Gai stepped in to see the village leader neck-deep in paperwork.

"O-oh Gai-kun." She said rather frantically. "I'm sorry I'm fairly busy at the moment. Can it wait?"

"I'm sorry Hokage-sama, but it can't." Gai said gravely. He motioned down to a dog at his feet. "If you would Pakkun." The dog nodded.

"Greetings Hokage-sama," it said. "As you are probably aware, I am Pakkun." It made a little doggy bow and continued. "Kakashi summoned me at the beginning of the mission to the Lightning Country in case something happened."

"I see…" Tsunade said resting her head on her hands, "What news have you?"

"I was just getting to that." The dog said bitterly. "I regret to inform you that Kakashi, Naruto, Lee, Tenten, and Hinata have all been captured by Orochimaru and are being kept in the Sound Country's dungeons."

"WHAT!" yelled Tsunade. "How did this happen!"

"They were ambushed," the small animal said bluntly. "By a young man who calls himself Uchiha Sasuke."

"Sasuke beat ALL of them!" Tsunade yelled in surprise.

"No, he distracted the party with a staged attack. After they had won, Sasuke used a rain of tranquilizer darts to knock them out."

"I see…" Tsunade said gravely. "This isn't good." She looked at Gai. "Gai."

"Hai Hokage-sama!" he said snapping to attention.

"No one but us three are to know of this, understood?"

"Hai!"

"Good." Tsunade started writing on a small piece of paper. After she finished she handed it to Gai and said, "Go find me these nin and bring them to me ASAP."

"Hai Hokage-sama!" Gai bolted from the door. He looked at the list. It had the names and addresses of several shinobi on it.

_Haruno Sakura_

_Hyuuga Neji_

_Nara Shikamaru_

_Inuzuka Kiba_

Gai arrived at Sakura's house first. He knocked on the door. Sakura's mother answered.

"Hello," she said pleasantly. "May I help you?"

"Greetings Haruno-san." Gai said with a slight bow. "I wish to speak with Sakura-chan. Might she be home?"

"Yes, hold on." Her mother turned around and yelled. "Sakura! There's some ninja man here to see you!" Thumping could be heard from upstairs as Sakura ran from her room. She rushed to the door.

"Gai-sensei?" she asked confused. "What are you doing here?"

"The 5th wishes to see you immediately."

"Hai!" She gave a nod.

"Excellent." Gai said. He turned and started towards Nara Shikamaru's house. He arrived and knocked on the door.

His mother answered.

"What do you want?" she said.

"I need to speak to your son please." He said giving a bow. "It's rather urgent."

She sighed. "SHIKAMARU!" the sudden yell surprised Gai. "GET YOUR ASS DOWN HERE! THERE'S SOMEONE HERE TO SEE YOU!"

Moments later Shikamaru came up to the door.

"Jeez mom, do you have to yell so loudly?" he said sarcastically. "I think that the 1st heard you."

"I wouldn't have to yell if you just listened the first time." She motioned towards Gai, "Here."

"What's up Gai-sensei?"

"The 5th needs to see you as soon as possible."

"Whatever." Shikamaru said, "I'll be there shortly."

"Good." Gai ran down to Kiba's house and knocked on the door. Kiba answered.

"Hmm? Why are you here Gai-sensei?"

"The 5th would like to see you in her office as soon as possible."

"Kay." He said, "C'mon Akamaru. The 5th wants to see us."

Gai smiled and ran towards the Hyuuga house. He intentionally saved this one for last because he knew that it wouldn't be any fun.

When he arrived at the gates of the giant clan house, he shuddered. He hated the thought of going in there. Despite his unhappiness, Gai knocked on the steel gate in front of him. Shortly a member of the Hyuuga clan approached him.

"What do you want?"

"I need to speak to Hyuuga Neji-san." Gai said with a bow.

"Hmph." Said the man behind the gate. "Come in and wait while I look for him." The giant metal gate swung open. "Come."

Gai reluctantly went in. He was seated at a table in the center room. Gai waited several minutes before he saw Hiashi and Neji walk into the room. Gai cursed his luck for he was hoping to not have to deal with Hiashi.

"What do you want with Neji?" asked Hiashi coldly.

"The 5th wishes to speak with him." Gai said flatly.

"About?" he asked glaring at Gai with his icy eyes.

"A mission I'd suppose." Gai said pretending to not know anything.

"You suppose?"

"Yes."

"You don't know?"

"No."

"I hop you DO realize that you're wasting my time." Hiashi sneered. "I will not allow one of my clan to go on a mission without knowledge of the mission."

"I do not know any details." Said Gai hiding his frustration. "But this IS a direct order from Tsunade-sama herself…" he said letting his voice trail off. "If Neji does not attend then she will be quite upset."

"I don't care what her orders are." Gai grinded his teeth, this man was a child. An angry, old, very spoiled child.

"Hiashi-sama." Neji said with a formal bow. "I believe I should go see Tsunade-sama."

"What is the meaning of this Neji?" Hiashi asked coldly. "You know I will not allow you to go unless I know the details of the mission."

"Hai." Neji said with a nod. "I will report back here after the meeting and report to you what the mission entails." Neji continued. "If the mission is not to your liking, I will inform the Hokage of this and that will be that."

Hiashi considered for a moment before saying, "Fine. Go." He motioned for Neji to go.

"Arigato, Hiashi-sama." Gai said with a bow. Neji and Gai walked out of the clan house. "How do you stand living with that man Neji?"

Neji looked at Gai and said, "You see Gai-sensei, we of the Hyuuga clan are especially good at hiding."

"Yes, I know that…but what does that…" Gai's voice trailed off in realization.

"Now you know why."

**_At Tsunade's office_**

Tsunade sighed. She had, assembled in front of her, Sakura, Shikamaru, and Kiba and Akamaru. Gai must be having trouble with the Hyuugas again.

"I swear…" She said rubbing her temples. "They'll be the death of me…"

Sakura was about to ask Tsunade what she meant, but at that moment, Gai and Neji walked through the door.

"Good," Tsunade said pleasantly. "Everyone's here."

"Why exactly are we here Hokage-sama?" asked Shikamaru.

"Well, as some of you already know. We had recently sent Lee, Naruto, Tenten, and Hinata on a mission." The group nodded and Tsunade continued. "This mission was a diplomacy mission in order to gain an alliance with the Lightning Country."

"Wh-?" Sakura started to say but Tsunade cut her off.

"Save your comments till I'm finished." She said. "Now, as you may or may not know, to get to the Lightning country, one has to pass through the Sound country." She said surveying the expressions given by the young shinobi. "They made it through the country with little incident. However, as they continued onward, they were ambushed and taken captive."

"And that's where we come in right?" Shikamaru asked blandly.

"Yes." Tsunade said giving Shikamaru the "evil eye". "You are to free them and continue giving them support till the end of their mission."

"Yes Hokage-sama." They all said together.

"Excellent, your guide will be Pakkun." The dog jumped up into the table. "He will show you the way to where they are being held." She looked at them once again. "Understood?"

"Hai."

"Good. You will leave as soon as possible." Tsunade paused. "Tonight if it is possible."

"Hai Hokage-sama."

"Excellent." She said with a smile. "You are all dismissed."

The shinobi left Gai, Pakkun, and Tsunade alone.

"Are you sure they're up to it?"

"Yes." Tsunade said with a confident smile. "They're fighting to save their friends. What better motivation is there?"

"I suppose…" Gai said still unsure. "They're all still inexperienced though."

"Since when has THAT ever stopped them?"

"Good point." Gai said.

"I'll go wait at the gates…" said Pakkun as he jumped off Tsunade's desk.

"Fine." Said Tsunade, waving him out. "You should go too Gai. I have a load of paper-work to do."

"Hai Tsunade-sama." He started to leave.

"And Gai." Gai turned around, "Don't worry. That's an order." Gai faked a smile.

"Of course Tsunade-sama." Gai didn't like the prospect of having his entire team on such a dangerous mission without him. He left and headed home.

**_Later that day!_**

"Is everyone ready?" Pakkun asked.

"Yup," Shikamaru said.

"Hai." Said Sakura

"We're ready." Kiba said, Akamaru barked in agreement.

"I am too." Said Neji.

"All right," Pakkun said. "I hope you realized the danger and importance of this mission." They all looked at the small talking dog. "If we fail, not only do we die, but your friends as well." He narrowed his little-dog eyes and added, "To make things worse, but we also lose our chance at diplomacy with the Lightning Country. So, I'd like us to not only come home with our five friends, but also with the reassurance of an allegiance with the Village Hidden in the Clouds." He turned around and added. "Do I make myself perfectly clear?"

"Hai Pakkun…kun." The four said awkwardly.

"Good, now let's go save us some friends!" the four shinobi and the talking dog walked out of the Konoha gates, each of them determined to bring their friends home in one piece.

Hey. Yeah. It's me. Um. Stuff. Review it if you want…I'm just happy I made it this far. I guess I should thank you people for taking the time to read this, even the people who dislike chapter nine. (you people really need to develop a sense of humor) but thanks nonetheless. All right everyone, I'll get started on chapter 10 tomorrow and hopefully I'll have it done soon.


	7. Ch11: Friendship Conquers All

Yeah, I think chapter 10 was reeeeaaallly bad. So I'll try to make up for it with this chapter.

Also. For all you's who are wondering what Kaoshi looks him and his 3rd level blood limit release. Something you all have to look forward to…yeah…it's a pretty bad drawing on lined paper, but what do you expect for something done in health class?

Chapter 11: Friendship Conquers All

Naruto awoke after sleeping for about an hour. It was still late. Naruto could see the moon through the barred window. He groaned and looked to his right. Hinata was sleeping peacefully. Naruto smiled.

_"Hey, stupid fox."_

**"What's up kid?" **the fox said in a sleepy tone. **"It's late."**

_"I know."_ Naruto said. _"I'm just bored."_

**"Wow."** Said the Kyubi.** "That's a first."**

_"Desperate times…"_

**"Yeah, yeah." The fox growled. "So why are you still in this cell?"**

_"Cuz there's no way out?"_

**"My nine tailed ass there's not."**

_"What are you talking about?" _Naruto asked. _"There's a chakra binding seal on the door and lock. I can't do anything." _Naruto looked at his hands. _"Besides. My hands are shackled and I can't even do seals."_

**"Wow. You really ARE stupid."**

_"What was that baka?"_

**"Think kid." **The demon grumbled. **"What's the one move you can do that doesn't use seals?"**

_"The rasengan." _Naruto said. _"But the chakra binding seal…"_

**"Phht. Screw that pathetic thing." **The fox said. **"Even that has a weakness."**

_"What?"_

**"Think about it kid.** **Is there any possible way that those seals can sense ALL of the chakra in here?"**

_"I-I suppose not_" Naruto said confused.

**"If you only use the chakra that's flowing from you NOW to make a small rasengan…you can cut through the bars."**

_"And here I thought you were totally useless."_

**"Don't gimme nonna that boy."**

Naruto laughed to himself. He slowly started to divert his chakra flow into his hand. He started to form a sphere and gradually increased its size. It had gotten to about an inch and a half in diameter before the binding seals started to react.

"Better than nothing…" Naruto said to himself. Naruto looked over to Hinata. He would free her first. He carefully started eroding a steel bar with the swirling ball of chakra. After about half an hour Naruto cut through one of the bars.

_"Damn…"_ He said to himself. _"This is gonna take a while…"_

After two and a half more hours of work Naruto finally cut through enough of the bars for Hinata to fit through. He went to wake her.

Hinata's dream 

Hinata was sitting on a bench alone.

_"Why doesn't Naruto-kun like me?"_ she asked herself. _"Am I ugly?"_

She sighed and rested her head on her hand. She looked up to see Naruto walk up to her.

_"Hina-chan."_ He said. _"I have something I want to tell you."_

_"N-Naruto-kun?" _her face turned bright red. What could he want to tell her? Hinata waited with bated breath for his confession.

_"Hina-chan…"_ he stopped.

_"Yes Naruto-kun?"_

_"I love…"_

_"YES?"_

_"I love ramen."_

Then some strange ramen fairies appeared and started singing the "I love ramen song" It was actually fairly catchy…

It went downhill after that. She snapped awake to find herself looking up at the object of her desire's face which looked right back.

**_REAL WORLD!_**

"Neh, wassup Hina-chan?" he said grinning.

"N-Naruto-kun?" she said astonished. "H-How am I…?" She looked at the bars behind her. "How did you?"

"They think they can keep the next Hokage cooped up in a pathetic cell like this?" Naruto laughed. "They'd better rethink that!" he said beaming. "I'm just too clever."

Hinata stared at Naruto with glossy eyes. At that moment, she thought he was the most amazing person on the face of the planet.

**"Way to take all the credit…" **the nine tailed fox said bitterly, then added, **"Again…"**

Naruto ignored him. He was too caught up in his gloating session to care.

"Hehe. No need to worry Hina-chan." He said confidently. "We'll get out of here before you know it!"

Hinata just ate it all up. She fed upon the incredible amount of confidence that oozed from the boy.

"Sorry Naruto-kun." A familiar voice said. Naruto, without looking up clenched his teeth and hands.

"Sasuke." He glared at his former teammate. "What is it now?" his voice full of hatred.

"It seems that you have decided to accept me as your enemy." Sasuke retorted with a laugh. "Good, because today we'll settle our differences once and for all."

"What do you--?" Sasuke interrupted him.

"You and the rest of your companions are to fight in the arena for the amusement of our citizens and soldiers." He said chuckling. "Orochimaru-sama and myself have hand-picked the opponents you will be taking on."

"You BASTARD!" yelled Naruto as he stood up and rushed Sasuke, without concern of the binding seal on the door. He threw a punch at Sasuke's face only to be stopped by an invisible wall. A great force was pushing him back, but he kept pushing forward. "We will NOT fight for you! We are more than just playthings! We're living, breathing PEOPLE!"

Sasuke shot his hand through the bars of the cage and picked up Naruto by the collar.

"Unless you can escape before noon…" Sasuke said scratching his face. "…You've no choice."

Naruto's eyes widened. "I think we can manage…" he said grinning.

"We'll see." Sasuke said throwing Naruto to the back wall. "We'll see…" Sasuke turned around and started to walk out. "Even if you DO make it out of that cell…you'll still have to find your companions and get out of here." Sasuke glared back at Naruto. "Think you can manage?"

"Hehe." Naruto said grinning. "I'm not the same brat I was three years ago Sasuke. Piece of cake."

Sasuke smirked. "Good luck with that." He said as he left.

"We WON'T need it." Naruto said with utmost confidence.

"We'll see Naruto…" Sasuke's footsteps could be heard through the otherwise silent dungeon for a few more moments.

Once they were no longer audible, Hinata got curious.

"Naruto-kun…" she asked curiously. "How are we going to get out? And why were you and Sasuke almost…decent…to each other?"

Naruto looked at her and smiled. "Because Hina-chan. Sasuke's still more or less on our side."

"What!" Hinata half yelled. "What do you mean!" Naruto smiled again. He reached into his collar and pulled out two small tags and a bobby pin. "What the…?"

"Sasuke put them in here when he grabbed me. It was just an act."

Hinata felt a wave of relief. "Thank god…"

"Nehe." Naruto laughed. "Now let's get the hell outta here!"

"Hai." Hinata said.

Naruto walked to the door cautiously. He carefully put the first tag in place over the chakra binding seal. It sparked and died. He did the same to the second, which had a similar reaction.

"Now to get the lock…" Naruto knelt down and started to pick at the lock. Several moments passed and he still hadn't made any progress. "Damn…" Naruto said. "Who knew this would be so hard…"

"May I Naruto-kun?"

"Hmm?" he turned to the girl behind him. "Go ahead Hina-chan. I'm bad at this kinda stuff anyways." Hinata flashed him a quick smile and knelt down by the lock.

_"BYAKUGAN!"_ she said to herself. She examined the lock. There were four locking mechanisms inside of it. No wonder Naruto couldn't get it to unlock. The focused her chakra into her hands. She worked her hands around the lock. After several moments it clicked and the door swung open. Naruto stood with his mouth agape.

"H-How did you?" Hinata pointed to her eyes.

"The Byakugan." She said simply. "The inner workings of the lock are similar to the inner coils of a person." She smiled and invited Naruto to step out.

"Hehe." Naruto laughed, still amazed. "You are one awesome chick Hina-chan."

Hinata's face turned bright red.

"N-N-Nar-ruto-k-kun…" she said looking down.

Naruto smiled.

"It's the truth Hina-chan." Naruto said as he grabbed her arm and started down the hall. "C'mon! There's no time to lose!"

_"He thinks I'm awesome!"_ Hinata said to herself. The thought resonated inside her. Despite everything, it would be one of her most cherished memories.

**_TO KAOSHI! YAY KAOSHI!_**

Kaoshi sat in his cell, accompanied only by the plethora of seals on his door. There were more than he cared to count. He had gotten bored at three hundred eight…and that was only on the first seven bars.

The effects that all of these seals had on him were nauseating. He had found one spot where he felt only moderately ill.

Not only were there a lot… there were also a lot of kinds. Chakra seals, chakra binds, chakra suppressors, muscle relaxing seals, and some that he swore were just there for decoration.

He looked out of his cell. He could see his sword on the wall across from his prison.

"So close…" he said. "…yet…so…not…close…" With a sigh he slouched back down.

"Quiet in there," the guard said. There was a guard stationed by him all the time. For the forty-four hours he'd been in the cell, someone was watching him.

"Sorry." Kaoshi said sarcastically.

"Don't worry. Soon you'll be dead and I can get a real mission."

"Gee thanks, that makes me feel so much better."

"I thought it would." Kaoshi looked down at the ground again. "And please be qui—…" Kaoshi looked up to see the man's head twisted 180 degrees around. "Ow…" he said as he fell to the floor.

Naruto dropped from the ceiling with Hinata not far behind.

"Hey guy." Naruto said with a huge smile. "Need a hand?" Kaoshi smiled.

"You sly bastard."

It took nearly two hours to undo all of the seals on the cell. Hinata did the same thing with the lock. It took longer because it was much more complex.

"Twelve locking mechanisms…" she said when she had finished.

"Damn…" Naruto said upset. "Can't help but feeling overlooked…two seals and a five mechanism lock…and you get frickin eight hundred and forty nine seals and a twelve mechanism lock…"

"They know what I can do." Kaoshi said grabbing his sword from the wall. "It's odd though. They left my sword here. So easy to get if I broke out."

"Guess they didn't expect you to be able to." Said Naruto. Kaoshi smiled wildly.

"Big mistake." He hitched his sword at his waist. They had also taken his coat. "Dammit. That was a gift."

"What was a gift?"

"My coat."

"You mean that ugly red leather trench coat?"

"…It's not ugly…"

"It's right there."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

Sure enough it was sitting on the floor under the table.

"Toss it here."

Naruto tried to pick up the trench coat but found himself unable to.

"Da' fuck?" Naruto said in confusion. "This thing must weigh at least a hundred kilos…"

"Three hundred. (660 pounds for all you idiots)"

Naruto and Hinata just stared at him slack jawed. Naruto tried to pick it up again and failed miserably.

"Let me…" Kaoshi walked over to it and picked up the coat as if it were nothing and put it on.

"How the--?" Naruto said astonished. "Who the--? What the--?"

Kaoshi smiled. "It's best not to ask."

"H-Hai…" Hinata said.

_"THIS MAN IS A MONSTER!"_ Hinata said to herself.

"I wonder why they didn't take this either…" Kaoshi said to himself.

"Maybe cuz they couldn't move it?" Naruto said sarcastically.

"Good point…" Kaoshi said as he started down the hall. "Come on, we have to find Kakashi and the other two runts."

"Hai." Hinata and Naruto nodded in agreement.

**_To the backup shinobi! Yaaaaaay backup shinobi!_**

The group of six traveled at breakneck speed in order to save their friends. It got to the point that Sakura had to carry Pakkun because he couldn't keep up.

"Okay. We're within an hour of the sound country." Said Pakkun.

Muscles tightened with anticipation and fear as they drew nearer. However, not one of them questioned themselves. They knew why they were going in and they didn't care about the danger. Four of their friends were in trouble that's all the needed to know.

An hour past and the company stood on the line between Leaf and Sound.

"Are all of you sure you want to do this?" Pakkun asked. They all looked at the dog. Sakura stepped forward.

"If we weren't sure about this, do you think we'd have come this far?" Sakura asked. "Friendship is the most important thing in the world. If I have to risk my life to save my friends…then so be it."

"Nicely put Sakura." Said Shikamaru. "I agree."

"You don't have to ask me twice." Said Neji. "I've already made my decision."

"I guess I can't back out then." Kiba said jokingly. Akamaru barked in agreement.

"Well then…" Sakura said looking at Pakkun. "There's your answer."

"Hehe. Glad to hear it." The four got queasy at the sight of a laughing dog. "Then after this point there's no turning back. Let's get this job done."

"Hai." The four Shinobi and two dogs plunged into the Sound Country not knowing what to expect.


	8. Ch12: Let's go wild!

Yup. I'd like to come up with something meaningful to say. But I can't. Chapter 12 everybody.

Kaoshi's family name means nothing. I just made it up.

Yeah…This chapter is pretty short… almost 500 words shorter than 10 and 11…Whatever. It accomplished what I wanted it to. Read and enjoy. I'll kill you if you don't enjoy it. That was said with the nicest smile EVER.

Chapter 12: Let's go wild

Naruto, Hinata, and Kaoshi were running through the corridors of the Sound Country's dungeon looking for any signs of their friends. They scanned each cell as they passed. Their efforts seemed in vain.

"Hey…Kaoshi-kun." Naruto said. "Haven't we been here before? I swear I've seen that room at least twice."

"No Naruto-kun." Kaoshi said without looking back. "This is the right way. I've been here before."

"You mean…?" Naruto said shocked.

"Yes, I was held prisoner here for a little over 6 years." He looked back and grinned. "But that's another story."

"H-Hai."

"If I'm not mistaken, Kakashi will be in a situation to the one you found me in." Kaoshi rounded a corner and made a quick left at the next intersection. "If I know Orochimaru, he'll be keeping Kakashi and I as far apart as possible."

"What about Lee and Tenten?" Hinata asked. Kaoshi had totally forgotten about her, being as quiet as she was.

"I don't know about them…" Kaoshi said. "They may already be dead."

Hinata cringed at the thought.

"No." Naruto said. "They're alive."

"How do you figure?"

"They kept me and Hina-chan alive. So why wouldn't they do the same with Lee and Tenten?"

"Orochimaru is a sick man Naruto." Kaoshi said frowning. "It'd be Naïve to think that he'd treat prisoners the same."

"That's not all." Naruto said. "Sasuke told me that Orochimaru panned to have us fight in the arena. He'd be dumb to kill any of us if he wanted a fight."

"That's true." Kaoshi said with a smile. "Very true. They just may still be alive."

Hinata sighed with relief.

Kaoshi skidded to a stop.

"Fuck."

"What's up?" Naruto said shifting into a battle stance. "Guards?"

"Yeah." He put his hand on his sword. "Hinata? If you would."

"_Byakugan!"_ She surveyed the area quickly. "Twenty-five." She said. "All of them wearing jounin jackets."

"Shit." He bit his lip. "Must be going to a meeting or something. Hide yourselves as best you can."

Naruto and Hinata used Henge no Jutsu, transforming to match the background. Kaoshi jumped up and hung from the ceiling.

"_How is he doing that with 300 kilos on him…?"_ Naruto asked himself but disregarded it quickly as the Jounin came into sight.

"So where are you posted today Minamaru?"

"Down the 5th corridor." Another said, "There are some new prisoners that Orochimaru-sama needs to have looked after. Leaf Nin."

"Ahh yeah." Said the next. "We got that 'Copy Ninja' right?"

"Yeah. And Orochimaru trusted me with guard duty."

"Lucky."

The large group passed under Kaoshi without noticing him.

"Awesome. Now if they just don't notice Naruto and Hinata…" 

The group of over 20 sound jounin stopped and looked directly at Naruto and Hinata.

"You've gotta be kidding." Said the first.

"That's the worst Henge no Jutsu I've ever seen." Said another.

"_Dammit…" _Kaoshi said to himself.

"H-Hey cut it out!" Naruto yelled as one of the Jounin grabbed him by the hair.

"What is it you want me to cut out? Your heart you say? Fine by me." They all started cackling.

_"I didn't want to have to do this so soon…but I guess I don't have much of a choice…"_ Kaoshi said to himself as he dropped down behind the group of shinobi.

He closed his eyes and focused on his sword. It was as if everything else stopped existing. He opened his eyes to find himself in a completely empty, black void.

_"Kaede."_ He said. His voice echoed several times. Three orbs of light appeared in front of him.

_"What do you need Kaoshi-kun?"_ A feminine voice echoed in response. Kaoshi walked up to the first orb.

_"First release."_

_"Ahh, you haven't had to use that in a while."_ The voice said with a chuckle. Kaoshi laughed back,

_"Desperate times…"_ Kaoshi reached out and grabbed the glowing orb.

_"KAI!" _the two said in unison. A blinding light filled the void. After it cleared, Kaoshi found himself back in the real world.

Naruto and Hinata were cornered by 25 sound jounin. Kaoshi laughed. All twenty-five of them snapped their heads to look at him.

"Who are you!"

"I have no need to tell my name to you fools." Kaoshi said putting up his tough act.

"Hehe, I guess it doesn't matter." One of them retorted. "Seeing as you're about to die."

"Who's going to kill me?" Kaoshi chuckled. "I don't see anyone here who can kill me." The jounin got furious at his attitude.

"Who do you think you ARE you cocky bastard!" Kaoshi smirked.

"You really wanna know?" He said drawing his blade. As he did so the room was filled with chakra that Naruto swore was lightning. The sudden and drastic increase of chakra caused Hinata to pass out. Naruto who was just barely able to stand from the huge chakra pressure, managed to catch her and support himself on the wall. "My name is…" Kaoshi started to say, but his body disappeared.

"Where the…?" one of them started to say, but he was cut short as his body split in two.

"…Kannai Kaoshi." He said as he reappeared behind them. He pointed his sword at them. It had changed since Naruto last saw it. Last time it looked like a regular sword. This time, there was a long, narrow space running down the sword, separating the blade and the dull edge. "And this…" he said motioning to his sword. "Is Kaede, my partner in crime. You should consider yourselves honored to have died at her hand."

One of the remaining jounin scoffed. "We're not dead yet, and we outnumber you. I wouldn't be talking so big if I were you."

"Yes you would." Kaoshi said with a grin as he sheathed Kaede. As the hand guard and the sheath clicked together, the remaining ninja fell into bloody pieces.

Kaoshi sighed and looked to Naruto and Hinata. Naruto was staring at him slack-jawed and Hinata was still out cold from the sudden increase of chakra.

"…Did I overdo it?"

_**TO KAKASHI, LEE, AND TENTEN!**_

Kakashi, Lee, and Tenten were speeding down the dungeon corridors looking for their companions.

"Good job on the locks Tenten." Kakashi said pleased to be out of his cell. She blushed and gave a smile. "Anyways, we have to find the others, and fast."

All of a sudden, a wave of chakra hit the company.

"Wh-What is t-that!" yelled Tenten in surprise. Kakashi smiled.

"Good news you two." He said with a thumb's up. "Kaoshi is free and wreaking some serious havoc in here."

"How do you know?" asked Lee.

"I'd never forget that chakra." He said confidently. "C'mon, follow me." Kakashi made a quick turn and headed towards the chakra.

"I hope you know what you're talking about Kakashi-sensei…" Tenten said skeptically. He ignored her and kept going.

As they grew nearer to the chakra Tenten started to feel feint.

"O—ohh…" Tenten said as she accidentally ran into Lee.

"H-HEY!"

"Lee, take care of Tenten." Kakashi said. "This kind of chakra isn't safe to be around unless you have experienced it when it was first released."

"R-right."

Kakashi doubled his speed in order to get there before Kaoshi sealed Kaede back inside her sheathe.

He turned the final corner to see over twenty sound jounin collapse into a giant bloody heap.

"Sheet…" Kakashi said as his eye widened in awe. "You couldn't do THAT ten years ago…"

Kaoshi tuned around and chuckled.

"I couldn't do a LOT of things then Kakashi." He smiled, "I'm a hell of a lot stronger now."

"I can see…" Kakashi said, "You're obviously much stronger than me…"

"Hehe."

Kaoshi's sealed Kaede in her sheathe. As the chakra diminished slowly, Hinata stirred.

"Neh? Hina-chan?" Naruto said dizzily, "You okay?"

"N-Naruto-kun?" She awoke to find herself in Naruto's embrace. Her face exploded into a blush. "Y-y-y-y-y-y-y-y-yes…I'm f-f-f-fine…"

"That's good." Naruto said with a smile.

_"That's the fourth time…"_ Hinata said to herself with a smile.

Not long after, Lee and Tenten found the crew.

"Way to just leave us Kakashi-sensei…" Lee said as he rounded the corner carrying Tenten in his arms.

"Sorry about that you two…" Kakashi said scratching his head, "I figured you could handle yourselves."

"Phht." Tenten scoffed. She was still barely conscious. "Kakashi-sensei… you should know better than THAT." Kakashi started to say something but an echoing down the halls cut him off.

"Hello Kakashi, Kaoshi, Naruto and…other three." A voice said.

"Orochimaru…" Kaoshi said with anger flaring up in his voice.

"I suggest that you accept my invitation for a little tournament…" and image appeared in front of them. Orochimaru was holding Sakura with a kunai to her throat.

"SAKURA-CHAN!" Naruto yelled.

"As I was saying…" the snake-like man continued. "If you don't participate…I'll kill your friends." Sakura squirmed in his grip.

"Naruto-kun!" she yelled. "Don't come! He's got a--!" Orochimaru cut her off by clasping his hand over her mouth.

"Orochimaru! You BASTARD!" Naruto yelled. "LET HER GO!"

"Hehe…only if you participate in my tournament…and WIN." Orochimaru's voice trailed off. "Take that corridor and follow it straight down to the arena." The image motioned to a hall. "You have half an hour." He gave a chuckle. "Remember…you don't show, they die."

Naruto's face darkened. Hinata noticed his change in emotions.

"Naruto-kun?" she started, "It'll be…" Naruto's face suddenly brightened in a huge smile.

"Ehe…" he started, "Hehehe…"

"Naruto-kun?"

"HAHAHAHAHAHA!" He burst out into laughter.

"Naruto-kun?" Hinata said surprised. "What are you--?"

"Hehe, This is gonna be fun." He said wildly.

Kakashi walked over to Naruto and cracked his knuckles. "I believe you're right Naruto…" Kaoshi did the same and started down the corridor.

"Let's go wild."

Lee wasn't far behind the four men.

"What's wrong with THEM!" Hinata asked Tenten.

"Must be testosterone…"


	9. Ch13: And So the Battle Begins

EHRajllkn akfki ofooaiiinnkaknsd lallalkalllksfnhfki inhooadicfnlaksfn kagfkmckaasdflaksn GUARD THE LEFT FLANK!

Chapter 13 And so the battle begins 

The team of six shinobi rushed down the long corridor. They had already been running for almost twenty minutes and the end of this tunnel was nowhere in sight.

"So, you guys pumped?" Kaoshi asked with a smirk.

"I'm always ready for a fight," Lee said. "It is excellent training."

"Lee you need to think of something other than training for once." Kakashi said rolling his eye.

"Me, I can't wait…" Naruto said. "I've been dying to test out my new jutsu for MONTHS!" Naruto flashed back for a minute.

Ero-Sennin stood at the Konoha gate. They were leaving to go rescue Gaara.

_"Naruto,"_ Ero-Sennin said, _"Don't use THAT jutsu…"_

_"Yeah…"_

Naruto snapped into reality again.

"Sorry Ero-Sennin…" he said smiling. "I might have to disobey you if I'm fighting who I think I'm fighting."

"Ooh…" Kakashi said intrigued. "Naruto has a new jutsu?"

Naruto smiled.

"My first totally original jutsu."

"Can't wait."

Naruto turned to Kaoshi. "So…Kaoshi…what was that thing you did with your sword?"

"That Naruto," Kaoshi said proudly, "Was my clan's specialty."

"Explain."

"Well, my clan, for generations have been skilled smiths. In fact we were the first clan to invent the chakra blade." He said proudly. "Over time, we noticed that if you give a child a chakra blade at birth, the blade will absorb the child's chakra. After several years, the chakra manifests itself giving a soul to the blade. The blade has it's own personality and everything which are based on your deeds up until the birth of the blade's soul. After the soul is born, the blade has its own chakra reserves that can be tapped by the user. The concept is similar to the eight inner body gates. When you can see them, you can open them."

"That's amazing!" Naruto said in awe.

"What's more amazing is that every time you release your blade, it gives the user chakra about equal to opening three of the inner body gates, WITHOUT damaging the body"

"That's even MORE amazing." Lee said in shock and a little jealousy. "How many times can you release?"

"Three." Kaoshi smiled. "That's the second most in my clan, ever."

"How many is the most?"

"Well see, there are five in total." Kaoshi said pointing upwards. "The first three releases are the mind release, the body release, and the soul release. They take years of training to be able to master." The group looked at Kaoshi expectantly, waiting for him to continue. "After the primary three come the Hell and Heaven releases. Only the founder of our clan has ever released those. Apparently, when the Hell release is opened, black chakra consumes the body causing a massive power surge, close to that of opening five gates."

"So wait…" Lee said. "In effect opening the first three releases THEN opening the Hell release is equal to opening fourteen inner body gates!"

"Yup." He said simply. "No one has ever seen the Heaven release. All we know is that it killed the founder."

"Killed?"

"Hai. One day he was on the far side of the village mountain training. All of a sudden a blinding white pillar of chakra erupted from the mountain. It lasted for almost four days. On the night of day four, a team was sent out to see what happened. When they got there…" he paused for a dramatic effect. "…The far side of the mountain…was gone, completely destroyed."

"Woah…" Naruto said wide-eyed.

"We'll save the rest of this story for later." Kaoshi said. "For we have now reached the arena…"

The group stepped into the light and emerged into the enormous coliseum. There were thousands of people in the stands, cheering for blood.

"This certainly is a pleasant sight…" Kakashi said.

A voice echoed about the stadium.

"Hello there." Orochimaru said. "It's good to see you made it in time. We were starting to think that you wouldn't show. Two more minutes and we'd have killed your friends." He motioned to a large stage at the far side of the arena. In it Sakura, Neji, Shikamaru, Kiba, and Akamaru were all held captive. Each individual had their own device made to hold them. All of their hands were bound so that they couldn't make seals. Shikamaru had spotlights all around him so that he cast no shadow. Neji had a mask covering his eyes so that he couldn't use any aspect of the Byakugan. The others were in various predicaments as well.

"Damn him." Naruto said grinding his teeth.

"Here's the deal." Orochimaru said. "There will be six one-on-one matches. We will release one of your friends with each of your team's victories. But if one of you should lose, both your friend and the team member who lost will die. If by some miracle you win all six matches, you and all of your friends will be set on your merry way to the Lightning Country." Orochimaru sneered. "Aren't I a nice man?"

"Go die…" Naruto said under his breath. "So we have to win every frickin fight? Great…"

"Now, we'll start right away…" Orochimaru grinned. "First match, Rock Lee Vs. Xinakao Zyk." The crowd cheered as a young shinobi walked forward from the sound side of the arena. He was tall, about 5'11" Lee estimated. The man took a fighting stance. It was one Lee had seen before.

"Taijutsu expert huh?" Lee asked. The man smiled and lunged at Lee. "Fine, if that's how you're gonna be…" Lee tucked his left arm behind his back. "Let's go." Lee opened the first gate, knowing that this man was not one to underestimate.

Zyk leapt up high into the air and came down at Lee with a punch. Lee jumped out of the way letting the punch smash into the ground. Gravel and dirt flew everywhere. Lee skidded low to she ground to lessen the chance of the debris hitting him. Zyk suddenly appeared in front of him.

"What the--!" He started to say but Zyk kicked him in the face before he could finish. Lee flew backwards skidding along the ground. He put his hands down and forced himself to stop. "Heh. Looks like I underestimated you."

"Seems like I've done the same. I half expected to kill you with that kick." The man retorted.

"Looks like I've got to get more serious…" Lee said as he opened the second gate.

Lee charged. Zyk sung at his head in an attempt to counter. Lee took the opportunity. He dropped to the ground, using it as leverage, and kicked upwards. The kick connected with Zyk's chin and he flew into the air. Lee jumped up and prepared the 'Primary Lotus'. The first kick connected. The second kick connected. However, on the third kick Zyk grabbed Lee's leg and the plummeted to the ground in a heap.

A giant cloud of dust spewed forth when the two hit the ground. After a moment of uncertainty, sounds of fighting could be heard clearly from inside the dust cloud.

"rrrrrrrraaaaaaaaa---AAAHHHH!" Lee's scream could be heard inside the dust cloud.

"Lee-kun?" Tenten said worriedly.

An explosion of chakra blew apart the dust cloud revealing Lee, who just opened the fourth gate and Zyk with a very worried look on his face. Lee disappeared and then reappeared behind Zyk.

"What the--!" Zyk was cut off as Lee's foot connected with his neck, shattering the bone. Zyk flew across the arena and crashed into a wall. He then slumped over dead.

Lee closed the gates and started to walk away. He turned back, glaring at Orochimaru.

"That's one." He said holding up the finger situated between his index and ring fingers.

"Hmm…I guess even thick-brows can be tough…" Kaoshi said. "I guess Tsunade ISN'T crazy after all…"

"Sure she is." Kakashi said. "She's just not an idiot." Kaoshi chuckled in response.

"Next up…" Orochimaru continued. "…Hyuuga Hinata and Reiga Kym." Hinata walked up into the arena meekly. The woman confronting her was much taller than her, maybe by half a foot. She looked confident, which was something Hinata didn't have.

She nervously walked into the ring.

"HEY!" Naruto yelled. "YOU CAN DO IT HINA-CHAN! JUST PRETEND THAT IT'S YOUR DAD!"

"M-My dad?" Naruto smiled in confirmation. Hinata looked at her opponent and imagined her having Hiashi's face. She started to get angry. "This just might work…" Hinata said with a hint of confidence.

**_TO THE TRAPPED KONOHA NINJA!_**

"Hey Kiba you're Hinata's teammate," Sakura asked. "Do you think she stands a chance?"

"Well," Kiba considered for a second. "No. We're fucked."

Sakura's face went pale. Neji scoffed at the idea of a Hyuuga losing to anyone but another Hyuuga.

"She'll win." He said. "She's a Hyuuga after all."

**_BACK TO THE ARENA!_**

_"I have to do this…"_ Hinata said to herself. _"For Sakura-kun…for Kiba-kun and Akamaru…For Neji-san…and for…"_ Hinata looked up to the prisoners. _"…Whatever that one's name is…"_

She readied herself and activated her Byakugan. She looked over at Naruto. _"I'm doing this most of all for you…"_ All of a sudden she felt a well of untapped power that she'd never noticed before. _"I-I can do this!"_ That power was confidence. She was fighting to protect her friends. She didn't have a choice but to win.

"Are you sure it's wise to send such a weak ninja against a Hyuuga, Orochimaru-sama?"

Orochimaru chuckled. "Of course. That cute little girl is Hiashi's daughter. She's a complete failure. And release the shadow boy…"

"If you're sure Orochimaru-sama…" Orochimaru glared at him. "R-r-right away Orochimaru-sama!"

Hinata glared at the man. She heard ever word. That got her mad.

"BEGIN!" Orochimaru yelled.

Kym rushed towards Hinata. She jumped to Hinata's right side and delivered a kick that hit her in the face.

"HINA-CHAN!" Naruto yelled.

However, just after the kick connected, Hinata turned into a log.

"Woah." Kakashi said surprised. "Didn't expect her to evade that."

Hinata appeared underneath her opponents attack.

"TWO HITS!" she yelled as she hit Kym twice.

"Uhhnn!" She yelled as her chakra began to be sealed.

"FOUR HITS!" Hinata continued hitting her chakra points. "EIGHT HITS!" she yelled. "SIXTEEN HITS!" "THIRTY-TWO HITS!" "SIXTY-FOUR HITS!"

Kym fell to the ground unable to do anything. Hinata turned and smiled at Orochimaru in the cutest way she could.

"That's two…Orochimaru-CHAN."

Lee, Naruto, Kakashi, Kaoshi, and Tenten stood, staring at Hinata, with their mouths practically on the floor.

"D-did Hinata-chan j-just say what I think she did?" Tenten said.

"Sh-she just taunted Orochimaru." Kakashi said.

"That was AWESOME!" Naruto said very, very loudly.

Hinata approached them with a beet-red face. _"I can't believe that I just did that…"_ Hinata said to herself with her heart pounding. She noticed Naruto cheering for her. She couldn't help but smile. When she reached her companions, Naruto grabbed her and put her in a headlock.

"WAY TO GO HINA-CHAN!" Naruto said even louder than before. "Who knew you had it in you?"

"Th-thank you Naruto-kun." She said poking her fingers blushing.

"Hey hey hey!" Naruto yelled. "What's with the blushing? You just obliterated a sound ninja and saved one of our friends! Be happy!"

Orochimaru grumbled. He had underestimated her.

"Release the dog."

"Hai Orochimaru-sama."

Orochimaru grabbed the microphone and started to speak again.

"Tenten versus Mara…"

Tenten walked up onto the arena platform.

"What? No family name?" she said under her breath.

Tenten was paired against another girl. She was about the same height as Tenten, about the same figure too. In fact the only major difference between them was that the girl Tenten was facing…had a five o-clock shadow.

"Ew." Tenten said. "That's icky."

"BEGIN!" Orochimaru yelled.

Mara started by taking some kunai out of her little ninja pack. She charged Tenten throwing a kunai at her every few steps. Tenten dodged all of them with ease. Mara tried to get close in; knowing Tenten's specialty before the fight even began.

"Dammit." Tenten cursed under her breath as she leapt back. "That's not fair…" she said drawing a kunai.

Mara did the same and lunged at Tenten. Their kunai met in midair several times before they broke away from each other.

Tenten had to catch her breath. Mara, however, was completely fine.

"That little bit too much for ya?" Mara retorted.

"Nah." Tenten said. "Just a bit outta shape." She said jokingly. Unfortunately, the ninja she was up against was much better than her. She could barely keep up with her. _"Dammit."_

"What's wrong? Giving up already?"

"I could ask you the same question about that fuzz on your lip…" Tenten said mockingly.

"WHAT WAS THAT!" Mara rushed Tenten wildly.

Tenten smiled as she ducked underneath a blind swing. She pulled out her weapon scroll and slid it open right in front of Mara's chest.

"Seeya." She said as she unloaded the scroll into the torso of her opponent.

Mara fell over dead.

Tenten, continuing the trend set by Lee and Hinata, turned and faced Orochimaru.

"Three." She said just as cutely as Hinata. She walked back to her team as sexily as possible, rubbing her victory in Orochimaru's face.

"DAMMIT!" Orochimaru yelled. "When did Konoha ninja become this GOOD!" He slammed his hand on the chair.

"I-It's okay Orochimaru-sama." The servant protested. "There are still three more fights!"

"Yes…Yes there are…" he said chuckling. "You…get me Kabuto…"

"Hai Orochimaru-sama."

"…and order the Dog's owner set free too."

"Right away."

Orochimaru picked up the microphone yet again.

"Now, we will have a short break while we wait for our next competitor…" he said addressing the audience. "Go to the bathroom and get a snack while you wait. Because you want to be ready…For all the blood that's about to be spilled…"

The crowd roared in anticipation.

"Not good…" Kakashi said.


	10. Ch:14 Kakashi VS Kabuto

Heyy. I intentionally made the fights in the last chapter short so I could fit all three of the not really important fights into one chapter.

And yes. My favorite move in Naruto is the 1000 years of pain. Get over it.

This one's short too. But it's hard to come up with a chapter long battle so deal with it.

**Chapter 14: Kakashi VS Kabuto**

Shikamaru, Kiba, and Akamaru were walking towards their fellow Konoha ninja. Shikamaru had his usual smug look on.

"Weren't we the ones who are supposed to be saving them?" he asked.

"Eh…" Kiba said with a shrug. "You get whatcha get."

"How the hell does that apply?" Shikamaru asked angrily.

"Err…It doesn't." Kiba said after a moment.

"Ugh…"

They were almost 20 yards from their friends when someone yelled from the stands.

"GET BACK IN YOUR CAGES YOU SLIME!" Shikamaru looked at him. His frown widened.

"Hey!" He yelled. He stuck up his middle finger. "FUCK YOU TOO, HOE!"

"Woah Shikamaru! Calm down man!" Kiba said shakily. "We're still on their turf…"

"Whatever…" Shikamaru started to walk away.

"Wuss…" the man in the stands said.

"Whatever…" Shikamaru said, returning to his usual demeanor.

When the three got to their friends they were greeted with several questions, greetings, and various other comments.

"Yeah, hey." Shikamaru said. Kiba instantly latched onto Hinata.

"GREAT JOB HINATA!" Kiba said as he put his arm around her and gave her a noogie. She blushed a bit.

"Yeah that WAS awesome Hina-chan!" Naruto said smiling. "She didn't stand a chance!"

Kiba said something to her, but Naruto didn't catch it. He was too busy being upset at seeing Kiba with his arm around her.

"Wait…what did you call her?" Kiba asked.

"Neh?" Naruto looked at him. "I called her Hina-chan…why?"

Kiba frowned. _"What if something happened between them…"_ He thought to himself. But he didn't have much time to think about it because Orochimaru got back onto the microphone.

"Thank you for your patience…I'd like to introduce, my right hand man. Kabuto!"

Kabuto walked out into the arena. The crown roared in excitement as their leaders sidekick stepped out onto the field.

"These last three matches will be special." Orochimaru said with a chuckle. "As three of the strongest sound shinobi will participate in them."

This got an even bigger response from the crowd.

"They will be…Kabuto…Uchiha Sasuke…And…MYSELF!"

The crowd started chanting. "ORO-CHI-MA-RU! ORO-CHI-MA-RU!"

"God dammit." Kakashi said. "Of course…" He looked at Naruto and Kaoshi who both got very serious. "Let me guess…" He pointed at Naruto. "Sasuke." Naruto nodded. He pointed at Kaoshi. "Orochimaru." Kaoshi nodded. Kakashi sighed. "And I'm stuck with Kabuto…"

"Now. These last three matches will be decided by challenge. The first person to challenge the opponent fights him. First up, Kabuto...and…"

Kakashi stood up and walked onto the arena platform and shot a stone-cold stare at Kabuto.

"HATAKE KAKASHI! The Copy Ninja!"

"Greetings Kakashi-kun." Kabuto said with a slight bow.

"Don't give me that…" Kakashi said. "Let's just get this over with." He shifted his forehead protector and got into a fighting stance.

"Indeed." Kabuto reached into his bag and took out a soldier pill. He swallowed it and focused his chakra to his hands.

"BEGIN!" Orochimaru screamed.

"Shall we dance Kabuto?"

"Let's." Kabuto said as he disappeared.

"Please." Kakashi said. "I know you're good." Kakashi turned around and kicked. Kabuto's chest appeared where Kakashi's foot was and flew back holding his chest. "But at least give me some credit."

Kabuto stood up brushing off his chest.

"Then I'll ask the same of you."

"Wh--!" He started to say but the earth around him exploding cut him off.

"Please Kakashi…" Kabuto scoffed. "You must be better than that."

"DAMN STRAIGHT!" Kabuto looked up to see Kakashi in the air above him, charging his raikiri.

"Oh come on Kakashi, that attack is so easy to dodge, it's just to obvious! WHA--!" Just then several dogs jumped from the ground, biting Kabuto to hold him in place. "I see Kakashi. Nice…very nice."

Kakashi came down on Kabuto ready to ram his hand through Kabuto's face. He jammed it right into his neck. Kabuto disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

"Kage Bunshin…" Kakashi said. "But why couldn't my sharingan see through it?"

Kabuto exploded from underground, nailing Kakashi in the chin with a chakra punch. Kakashi flew up into the air with Kabuto close behind.

"Ready Kakashi?" Kabuto yelled.

"No, not really." Kakashi said.

"Tough!" Kabuto delivered a punch to Kakashi's face who then poofed away in a cloud of smoke. "Damn…" Kabuto said. "Thought I had him."

"Nope." Kakashi said as he exploded from the ground. "HIDDEN LEAF ANCIENT TAIJUTSU SUPREME TECHNIQUE!" He yelled as he rammed he forefinger up Kabuto's ass. "ONE-THOUSAND YEARS OF PAIN!"

Kabuto went reeling off in the other direction. He stood up rubbing his butt.

"Ow." He said angrily.

"Hehe. That's what you get for letting your guard down." Kakashi said with a chuckle.

"Okay Kakashi, time to get serious."

"I thought you'd never say that…"

The two ninja disappeared. Occasional flashes of light could be seen from where the two collided. They went on like this for nearly ten minutes.

After a while, the two shinobi stopped to catch their breath.

"Nice…Kakashi…I wasn't…expecting…this good a workout…"

"Yeah…me either…"

They sat there for almost two minutes before they started going at it again.

**_BACK WITH THE OTHERS!_**

"Look at them going at it like that…" Lee said in shock. "I can barely follow them. Shikamaru-san. Can you tell who's winning?"

"Hmm." Shikamaru said observing the battle closely. "I'd say it's about even right now. Kakashi has Kabuto on the defensive, so he's taking some hits. But since Kakashi is on the offensive, he's using up more strength."

"So…what's that mean?" Naruto asked.

"It means that whoever lasts the longest will win…baka…" Shikamaru said.

Naruto ignored the insult and turned his attention back to the battle raging in front of him.

**_BACK TO THE BATTLE!_**

Kakashi stood, watching his opponent. He had a gut feeling that Kabuto was up to something. Also, it bothered him that he couldn't see through Kabuto's clone earlier. He quickly ran through a list of all possible reasons why he couldn't see it, but none of them were very applicable.

Kakashi snapped out of his thoughts as Kabuto rushed him. He shifted his weight as Kabuto drew nearer and delivered a kick to Kabuto's jaw. He disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

_"DAMMIT!" _Kakashi thought, _"Again with the clone."_ He sighed and looked around. He saw nothing.

Kabuto appeared out of nowhere right in front of Kakashi and kicked him in the face. Kakashi tumbled several back several feet. After gaining control over his body again he grabbed a kunai and tossed it at Kabuto. Right before it hit him, Kabuto disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

_"That's it!" _Kakashi thought triumphantly. _"He's not using clones. He's using a replacement jutsu switching himself with the air!"_

"Judging by your face," Kabuto said, "It looks like you figured out my disappearing trick."

"Yup." Kakashi said flatly.

"But it's too late now." Kabuto burst from the ground again. A kick sent Kakashi flying into the wall of the arena.

"Ow…" He said as Kabuto appeared in front of him for another attack. Kakashi ducked and Kabuto's attack flew over his head. Kakashi lunged at Kabuto and punched him in the stomach. Kabuto didn't budge.

"Hehe." He started chuckling.

"What the--?" Kakashi started but was cut off by a lack of air due to the knee in his stomach.

"How did I get this strong this fast?" Kabuto asked.

"S-something like that…" Kakashi said coughing up some blood.

"Remember that soldier pill I took?"

"What about it…?"

"It was my own special variety." He said proudly as he kicked Kakashi again. "After a while, it increases my chakra output by 200. Of course there are some drawbacks. But they're nothing that I can't handle."

Kakashi tried to get up.

"Don't even bother." Kabuto said, "I've numbed the nerves in your lower body. You can't walk."

"Dammit." Kakashi coughed up some more blood. He took two kunai out of his leg pouch so that Kabuto couldn't see.

"Looks like this fight's over Kakashi." Kabuto said with a satisfied smile.

"I'm still alive aren't I?" Kakashi said. "If you can't kill me, the fight's not over."

"Is that so?" Kabuto said annoyed. "Well I guess…this is the end for you Kakashi." He disappeared and reappeared right over Kakashi. He slammed his hand on the ground next to Kakashi's head, other hand poised for the finishing blow. "Any last words Kakashi?"

"Yeah…" He said as he rammed the two kunai into Kabuto's shoulders. "Dodge this." Kakashi's Sharingan started to spin, changing into a different shape.

"Wha—!"

"MANGEKYOU SHARINGAN!" He yelled. Kabuto felt his head imploding in on itself.

"uuuuhhuhhhhhhhaAAAAHAHHHH!" He yelled as his head imploded.

Kabuto's blood rained down on Kakashi's face.

"Glad that's over." He heard some indistinguishable voices to his right. "Damn…I wish I knew what they were saying…" he said as he fell onto his side. He saw a blurry Naruto rushing towards him as he lost consciousness.


	11. Ch: 15 Naruto VS Sasuke

Hey…it's me again with a chapter 15 UPDATE! OH NO! THEY'RE AFTER THE RIGHT FLANK! GGGFAFAOOWJ! (Pronunciation: Gah-fafa-oow-uj) **machine gun noises** AHHH! I'M HIT! MEDIC! EEEUUUUUUUUUUUUUuuugggghhh…. Everything's going tooty fruity… You may have one this battle Johnson and Johnson's baby shampoo…BUT THE WAR IS DANDRUFF FREE!

Don't hate me cuz I'm weird. I write fun stuff. If you guys don't like my little tid-bits of having fun…go away and go throw yourselves into the fires of Mt. Doom. Cuz I like the part about me killing myself and a new author coming in. So NYA! To you!"

And don't hate my lack of Romaji skills…I'm trying to come up with cool jutsu with what little Romaji skill I have…

Crazy news everyone! With this chapter… "Adventures in Lightning" will be over 100 pages long! Ain't that just plain delicious? I never thought that with my ADHD I'd ever get this far! So this is a pretty big accomplishment for me.

Wow this chapter is a long ass fight…

Chapter 15: Naruto VS Sasuke

The crowd was silent as the sound med nin carted Kabuto's headless corpse away. Orochimaru let them mourn for a moment before getting back on the mic. Without any remorse or hint of sadness he readied the next match.

"Next mach is…Uchiha Sasuke…Versus…" he trailed off waiting for Naruto to step up. He did and Orochimaru announced him. "BEGIN!" He yelled so loudly that it caused some feedback. He looked at his servant. "Release the Hyuuga…"

"Hai Orochimaru-sama…" he said as he ran off.

Naruto and Sasuke stood there glaring at each other. Neither of them made a move. After a few moments Sasuke started to walk in a large circle and Naruto mimicked him. They walked in an ever-shrinking pattern until they were standing face-to-face.

Sasuke had grown since Naruto last saw him. He was almost two inches taller than Naruto now. He was wearing a shirt similar to the one he used to wear when they were young. After another moment, Sasuke opened his mouth and spoke.

"So, Naruto…" He said dryly.

"Yeah?" Naruto responded.

"…I guess it comes down to this…huh…?"

"Yeah."

"We always wanted to know who was stronger."

"Yeah…" Naruto's voice trailed off.

"But somehow…" Sasuke looked up. "…I wish it could have been different."

"We both do."

"I guess it's too late now." Sasuke said looking back down into the eyes of his rival.

"It's never too late Sasuke…" Naruto said nearly on the verge of tears. The author then realized how cliché that statement was and committed suicide. A new author came. He began to write.

"It is for me Naruto." Sasuke said reaching back for a kunai, "whoever wins this…is the strongest."

"Fine…" Naruto said doing the same.

"Let's make this interesting Naruto…" Sasuke said.

"Hmm?"

"If you win…I'll come back to Konoha with you."

"Wh-!"

"And if I win…" Sasuke said thinking, "…You join the Sound Village. How's that sound? Orochimaru-sama can always use another lackey…"

"Prepare to come home Sasuke…" Naruto said with a grin.

"Hehe. Well then, let me be the first to welcome you to your new home."

The rivals jumped back and went into action after nearly eight minutes of doing nothing.

Sasuke winged his kunai at Naruto. Naruto sidestepped and tossed his. Sasuke did a similar action and rushed Naruto. Suddenly Sasuke's hand started to glow, and the sound of a thousand birds was heard. Naruto knew the attack. Chidori.

Naruto lowered himself to the ground, looking at Sasuke's waist to counter the sharingan's effect. As Sasuke drew near enough to strike, Naruto sidestepped and attempted to ram a rasengan into the face of his former companion.

Sasuke twisted his body and avoided it.

The two broke off and stood ready for the other's attack.

**"Hey kid…"** A familiar voice said inside of him.

_"What do you want baka?"_ Naruto said angrily.

**"Just was wondering why you haven't called on my chakra yet…"**

_"Because baka, I'm doing this myself. I don't want any of your help. Only if he uses the curse seal will I ask for your assistance."_

**"Woah…Never seen YOU like this before."**

_"Shutup before I shut you up!"_ Naruto said fiercely.

No response.

_"That's more like it."_

Naruto looked at Sasuke.

"Let's go wild."

Sasuke smiled.

"For old times sake."

Sasuke lunged at Naruto. He pulled his fuma shuriken out of his backpack and leapt into the air.

"SUPERSONIC SHURIKEN!" He yelled as he threw it with all his might. Naruto jumped out of the way of the shuriken. As it passed him, he got hit with a giant shockwave and flew into the wall.

"Da'…fuck?" Naruto said as he coughed up some blood.

"Hehe." Sasuke chuckled. "I actually got a shuriken to break the sound barrier. Impressed?"

"Very." Naruto said smiling. Naruto did the seals for Hokage Bunshin no jutsu. "HOKAGE BUNSHIN NO JUTSU!" Twelve clones appeared and rushed Sasuke.

Sasuke cut through the first one. It blew up in his face and sent him reeling into a nearby boulder.

"Shit…" Sasuke said, coughing up blood.

"Impressed?" Naruto said with a determined smile.

"Very." Sasuke said with the same smile. He stood up and brushed himself off. "I think it's about time we really got things going…" Sasuke said glaring at Naruto with his blood red eyes.

"I think you're right Sasuke…" Naruto said smiling. His remaining eleven clones rushed Sasuke.

"SUPERSONIC SHURIKEN!" He said as he threw several smaller shurikens at the oncoming attackers. They all exploded outside of the blast radius, not causing Sasuke any damage.

Sasuke started to charge his Chidori and Naruto his rasengan. The two lunged at each other.

"COME ON NARUTO!" Sasuke screamed. "SHOW ME WHATCHA GOT!" Sasuke doubled his speed on he and was on Naruto in an instant. "TAKE THIS!"

He shoved his Chidori at Naruto. Naruto looked down at Sasuke's waist in an attempt to not have his moves predicted.

"Not gonna work Naruto!" Sasuke yelled as he shoved the Chidori into Naruto's neck. "It's over…"

Naruto smiled.

"Damn right it is…" he said as he poofed away.

"Kage Bunshin?" Sasuke yelled as he looked for Naruto who exploded out of the ground thrusting his rasengan at Sasuke's face. "ERR!" Sasuke barely dodged it. It scraped up against his left shoulder causing a lot of blood to spurt from the wound. "Dammit!" Sasuke yelled jumping back holding his wound.

Naruto smiled.

"Don't underestimate me Sasuke."

Sasuke smiled at the boy's confidence. He decided to break him of it. He did the seals for Chidori, only added a few more after it.

"CHIKURODORI!" Black lightning erupted from Sasuke's hand and the ground around him cracked. He looked at Naruto. "Like it? It's my trump card…"

"Hmm…Impressive Sasuke…"

"Hehe…

"Mind if I play mine?"

"Why not?"

Naruto started doing hand seals. He did about thirty in under three seconds; he put his hand down and gripped it similar to the way Sasuke was holding his own hand.

_"Damn…that was too fast for me to copy…"_ Sasuke said in surprise.

"RENGOKU NO HOKURO!" A black flame exploded from Naruto's hand. Sasuke looked at him in amazement. "Like it?" Sasuke chuckled.

"Yeah…looks like you tried to get a Chidori…"

"Yup. I was trying for that…but it always came out as fire and Ero-Sennin told me to just use that…"

"Haha…a failure as usual…"

"Hehe…" a bead of sweat rolled down Naruto's face. "It's one strong-ass failure…"

"Let's see then…" Sasuke lunged at Naruto and Naruto did the same. "…WHO'S REALLY STRONGEST!"

Their hands met in midair. Black fire and lightning exploded from the place of impact and carved deep holes in the ground. They both stood there for a moment pushing against each other with all their might. After nearly a minute passed a giant explosion came from in between them and sent them flying back.

Sasuke stood up revealing the curse seal across his face.

"I didn't want to have to do this Naruto…" He said. "…but you leave me no choice…"

"I'm going to say the same to you…" Naruto said brushing himself off.

_"Kyubi…"_ Naruto said.

**"FINALLY!"**

_"Yeah…but I need to stay myself…"_

**"What! Why!"** The fox protested.

_"Because…otherwise I won't be satisfied."_

**"Fine…"** Kyubi said with a sigh.

_"Thank you…"_

**"Whatever…"**

Chakra started bubbling out of Naruto and covered his body. After a few seconds, a tail of chakra appeared out of his tailbone.

**_"So…Naruto…you called upon the Kyubi finally…"_** said Sasuke.

**_"Come on Sasuke…"_** Naruto said. **_"Let's get this fight really started."_**

Sasuke lunged at Naruto who stood his ground. Sasuke threw a punch at him but the chakra bubbling around Naruto's body shifted and blocked Sasuke's fist. Sasuke jumped back.

**_"Oh…right."_** Sasuke said remembering their last battle. **_"I forgot about that…"_**

**_"You'd best not forget again…" _**Naruto retorted. Sasuke smirked and lunged at Naruto again.

**_"Don't worry, I wont." _**He said smiling wildly. Sasuke disappeared. Naruto looked around for him but found himself unable to locate the Uchiha.

**_"Hmm…"_** Naruto sniffed the air. Over the last three years, Naruto had trained in order to gain control of the demon fox inside him. During that time he had managed to master the keen senses of the fox along with a few other tricks. **_"Gotta do better than THAT!"_** Naruto yelled punching the ground sending Sasuke flying into the air.

**_"Good Naruto!"_** Sasuke said giddily. **_"But not good enough!"_** suddenly, a giant snake exploded from the hole Naruto had made and went to bite him. Naruto stuck out both of his hands and grabbed onto the fangs of the snake.

**_"RRAAAHHH!" _**he yelled as he pulled the fangs free of the snake's jaw causing it to convulse on the ground and disappear. **_"Not good enough my ASS!"_** Sasuke appeared behind him with another Chidori charged up ready to ram it through Naruto's spine.

**_"TAKE THIS!" _** Sasuke yelled as he thrusted at Naruto who collapsed on the ground to avoid Sasuke's attack.

**_"DAMMIT SASUKE!" _**Naruto yelled. **_"HOW MANY TIMES WILL YOU DO THAT DAMN ATTACK!"_**

Naruto pushed off the ground and kicked Sasuke in the chest with both feet.

**_"UUHHHNN!"_** Sasuke yelled as he flew back into the wall of the arena causing a huge cloud of dust to rise.

Naruto took the opportunity to catch his breath. _"Damn…this is intense…"_

Before he could do anything else, the cloud of dust exploded with a huge chakra.

**_"RRAAAHHHHHHHH!"_** Sasuke yelled from across the arena. He started towards Naruto. His skin was dark, almost black and a giant webbed wing had sprouted out of his back.

**_"Kicking it up a notch eh Sasuke?"_** Naruto said with a smile. **_"Guess I will too…"_**

_"Kyubi…"_

**"Yeah, yeah…you don't have to tell me…"**

_"Thanks…"_

**"Whatever…"**

Naruto leaned forward and started screaming with clenched fists.

**_"RRRRRAAAAAAARRRRGGHHH!"_** Naruto yelled. Two more tails appeared from where the first had come.

**_"CHIKURODORI!"_** Sasuke yelled and lunged at Naruto.

**_"RENGOKU NO HOKURO!"_** Naruto yelled as he lunged at Sasuke.

**_TO THE SIDELINES!_**

The Konoha ninja and Kaoshi watched on in amazement and horror at the sheer strength that the Sasuke and Naruto were showing.

"Damn…" Said Neji, who had just gotten to where his companions were. "When did Naruto get this strong? Both he and Sasuke are producing huge amounts of chakra…"

There was a long silence.

"So…Kakashi-sensei…" Hinata said. . Kakashi jumped in surprise. He had forgotten that Hinata was there. He shook it off looked at her. "Who do you think will win?" Kakashi sat in contemplation.

"I can't say…" He said. "It's a tough call… But it looks like we'll get our answer soon…" He pointed to the arena. Naruto and Sasuke were both lunging towards each other with their most powerful attack.

"Naruto-kun…" Hinata said to herself.

"YOU CAN DO IT NARUTO!" Shikamaru yelled.

"YEAH!" Kiba chimed in, "KICK HIS ASS!"

"Believe in yourself." Neji said.

"YEEEAAH! NARUTO!" Tenten yelled.

"WE BELIEVE IN YOU COMRADE!" Lee added.

"G-GO NARUO-KUN!" Hinata said in an uncharacteristically loud voice.

"Do it." Kakashi said.

"I'll kick your ass if you lose…" Kaoshi said under his breath.

**_TO THE BATTLE!_**

**_"RRAAAAHH!"_** Both Naruto and Sasuke yelled as they charged each other. The two collided in the center of the arena. Even larger lightning and fire bolts stormed around the arena causing some of its walls to crack.

It was impossible to see what was happening as the two competitors were completely surrounded in black chakra.

The black surrounding the two suddenly exploded sending debris everywhere. A giant cloud of dust and smoke was floating in the air, obstructing the sight of an impatient crowd.

After a moment the dust started to settle…revealing the silhouette of someone standing over a motionless body.

To be continued. Bwahaha I'm so evil…


	12. Ch: 16 a short little update

OH GOD! CHAPTER 16 ! FLAMING PANDAS!

Yeah this isn't really a chapter…it's just a short little update so I can leave you with another cliffhanger. Isn't that fun?

Chapter 16: Naruto Vs Sasuke Continued

The crowd waited with baited breath for the dust to clear so they could see the victor. After several moments the dust cleared.

Tears welled up in Hinata's eyes. What those teary eyes beheld chilled her to the core. Sasuke stood holding a very, very bloody arm over Naruto's unmoving and equally bloody body. After a moment Naruto coughed up some blood. He was still alive, but at Sasuke's mercy.

"N-NARUTO-KUN!" Hinata yelled ready to jump out and help him. However she found herself unable to move. Everyone was holding her back. "What about Naruto-kun!" she yelled angrily.

"This is how it has to be…" Kakashi said.

"NARUTO-KUN HAS TO DIE!" She yelled even louder. "I CAN'T…I WON'T ACCEPT THAT!"

"Please Hinata…" Shikamaru said calmly. "All we can do is watch."

"But…" tears welled up in her eyes again. "N-Naruto-kun…" She shrunk down into a ball and cried.

**_TO THE DUEL!_**

Sasuke hovered above Naruto's body examining him. He was still breathing in short raspy breaths. His lung was pierced. It looked grim for his former comrade.

**_"So…this is the end Naruto…"_** Sasuke said turning around. **_"I won't finish you…lay there and think of happier times."_**

Naruto lay on his side in a puddle of his own blood. He looked up at the sky. _Happier times?_ He thought. He remembered how excited he was to be on Sakura-chan's team…team 7. He remembered their first mission, catching a cat for some old lady… their first real mission to the wave country…against Zabuza and Haku. That was the first time the Kyubi really came out. The Chuunin exams and his fight with Kiba, Hinata's fight with Neji all came back to him _"_…_Hinata?"_ He opened his eyes and looked over towards the girl. She was crying. He reached out to try and touch her but he found himself unable to reach. _"H-Hina-chan…"_ He said to himself. He didn't know why she was crying, but he knew he didn't like it when she cried. "Don't…cry…Hina-cha-an…" he said with a slight cough. "I—I can still fight…"

**_"I'm surprised that you can still talk Naruto-kun…"_** Sasuke said glaring down at the motionless Naruto.

"Sas…suke…" Naruto said looking back at him. "Was… it you?"

**_"Hmm?"_** Sasuke said in confusion.

"Was it you…who made Hina-chan sad?" he said coughing up some more blood.

**_"Yes."_** Sasuke said after a moment. Naruto frowned.

"Don't do that…go apolo…apolo…apolog-gize…now…" Delirium was setting in now.

Looking at his former comrade in this state made Sasuke sad. Something he hadn't felt since he left the Konoha. As he watched Naruto slowly dying, his eyes began to spin and change shape.

"Sas…suke…" Naruto said. "You…got something…in your eye…" and with that, he let out a sigh and let his head fall to the side.

Sasuke looked at him. Tears streamed down his face. **_"You were my best friend Naruto-kun…"_** he said through the tears. **_"I didn't really want it to end this way."_** His eyes stopped rotating revealing a Mangekyou Sharingan. **_"And this isn't the way I wanted to attain this eye…"_** He said covering it up in shame. **_"You failed once again Naruto-kun…"_** Sasuke said walking away. **_"Now all of your friends will surely die. Today you lost more than your life…you lost your honor as well…"_**

**_INSIDE NARUTO'S HEAD! IT'S EMPTY! HAAHH! GOTCHA!_**

Naruto awoke to find himself in an empty black room. He stood up and looked around. He saw nothing. The space around him was totally vacant. He heard a grumble behind him. He snapped his head around to see the nine tailed demon fox sitting there.

**"You failed kid."**

_"Yes…but there's nothing I can do now…I'm dead."_

**"I wouldn't go that far yet kid…" **the Kyubi said. **"You're still breathing."**

"But with those wounds…I doubt even you can cure me…" 

**"Yes…that is true." **The Kyubi said.

_"So please then…don't taunt me with false hopes…"_

**"Whoever said that they were false?"**

_"Please…There's no way."_

**"You'd give up on all your friends that easily?"**

_"I don't want to…but there's no choice…"_

**"Really?" **The Kyubi scoffed. **"I seem to remember you coming out on top of impossible situations before…"**

_"None of them were like this baka kitsune…"_

**"So? Lemme get this straight? You're gonna let a little thing like death stop you?"** The fox asked.

_"That's pretty much the size of it."_

**"Look at this…" **the fox looked to his left revealing a small hole of light. Naruto looked into it and saw Sakura trying to rip out of her shackles to get to the body. **"You're really gonna let Sakura-chan die?"**

"N-no…but what can I do?" 

**"How about this?"** He motioned to another one right next to it. Naruto looked in. Inside were all of his comrades. Neji, Lee, Hina-chan, Shikamaru, Kiba, Akamaru, Kakashi-sensei, Tenten, and Kaoshi-kun. Everyone was upset. Tenten was crying. Neji was too, but trying to hide it. Kiba was looking down trying to hide his tears. Shikamaru wiped them away. Hinata was curled up in the fetal position screaming, 'Why, why, why! Why Naruto-kun!' Naruto averted his gaze. It hurt him to see her like that. **"How does that make you feel?"**

_"Make it stop…"_

**"Only you can make it stop."**

_"HOW! I'M A FUCKING CORPSE!"_

**"You will be if you keep sitting around here doing nothing."**

_"WHAT CAN I DO!" _He yelled standing up.

**"Let me put it to you another way…" **the fox said angrily. **"If you don't stand your body up right now, I'll possess it and use it to kill everyone I see. Including your friends."**

_"YOU WOULDN'T DARE!"_

**"Try me."**

Naruto glared at the fox.

_"Gimme some chakra." _He said firmly.

**"THAT'S more like it!"**

_"Shut the hell up and gimme some damn chakra…"_

**"All right already sheesh…how does five sound?"**

_"Shutup and do it."_

**_TO THE REAL WORLD!_**

Kakashi looked at Naruto's corpse.

"Damn it…" he said lowering his head. "You just expect him to pop up and say something stupid in an attempt to be witty…"

Suddenly, a huge chakra emerged from the center of the arena.

"What!" Kakashi yelled. "It can't be…"

Red chakra started to cover Naruto's body. Tails started to emerge from the motionless body. They stopped coming after the 5th one emerged.

"Dammit…" Kakashi said clinching his teeth. "This had better not be what I think it is…"

The red chakra completely covered the body making it impossible to see. The body picked itself up and set itself on all fours. He looked like a miniature Nine Tails only with five tails.

People started to get afraid. They recognized him as the Kyubi now and started to flee while the leaf nin looked on in horror. Hinata was still crying on the ground ignoring the immense chakra.

"Dammit." Kakashi said again. "This might get ugly."

Suddenly…the chakra stopped increasing. Everything suddenly became silent except for a low buzz. The chakra around Naruto diminished but the five tails remained. There stood a completely healed Naruto ready to battle.

**_"It's over Sasuke."_** He said glaring at his former comrade.

**_"Why…" _**Sasuke said looked back at Naruto. **_"Is it that you try is hard?"_**

**_"Because Sasuke…"_** Naruto said with a grin. **_"The people whom I love need to be protected."_**

**_"Well then…"_** Sasuke said, smiling. **_"It seems Naruto-kun…that you've turned into a man."_**

**_"A very immature one." _**Naruto said with a smile.

**_"Indeed."_**

The two remained silent but charged their attacks. Their chakra was swirling about them even more powerfully than it had before. The two lunged at each other. Their hands met with a powerful roar as the stadium around them began to crumble. Their eyes were locked on each other, looking for any sign of weakening.

"Surely…" Kakashi said. "If either of them give an inch…they'll die."


	13. Ch:17 Kaoshi VS Oro part 1

Chapter 17 is being written as I type! Well…rather the INTRO to chapter 17 is being written as I type! WHOOO! INTRO! WOOT! That means the chapter will start soon! GJ0RGANSPL00GE! Ooohhh I'm hyper…

Once again please forgive my bad Romaji skills. It's all I could really think of…Haha…I keep apologizing for a lack of Romaji skilllllzzzz…

And then the world exploded. Boom. You're all dead.

Sorry this chapter took so long everyone…I was planning to have it out middle of last week…Then Neon Genesis Evangelion happened…Yeah… I was like… "O.o" And then this kid was like… "ZOMG REI IS SO HAWT!" …Yeeaaahhh… Annnyywwayysss…. I highly recommend it to anyone who hasn't watched it yet…

Now I'm being distracted by music…it's not easy to head bang to ska…or "Bohemian Rhapsody" for that matter… Don't hate my taste in music…Damn ADHD…I should really get back to writing…

Chapter 17: Kaoshi VS Orochimaru Part:1

The crowd sat on the edge of their seats in utter silence. No one dared blink or speak a word because they were afraid that they might miss the outcome. The same went for our heroes on the sidelines. They dared not blink or speak.

They were still partially confused however. Naruto had suddenly jumped up and had chakra pouring from him. That didn't really matter at the moment though. Their minds were on the battle that had just come to a close.

Smoke and dust slowly fell from the air revealing the two competitors. Naruto's arm was lodged in the right side of Sasuke's chest and was clearly visible on the other side. Sasuke's wrist was held by Naruto's left hand, pushed harmlessly out of the way. Sasuke coughed up some blood and started to fall. Naruto leapt forward to catch him. He had won, but at what price?

"Hey Sasuke…" Naruto said with his normal voice.

"Good job Naruto…" Sasuke said to his teammate and best friend. "Looks like I'll be joining you…as team 7 again…" he said smiling.

"Hehe…" Naruto said smiling. "Looks like it."

"Oi…" Sasuke said grabbing his wound. "What the hell WAS that thing Naruto?"

"Hehe…" Naruto smiled again. "That was the super version of the Rengoku no Hokuro…" Naruto explained. "It's the Rengoku no Hokuro…but with a rasengan in the middle; doubling the power."

"Damn…" Sasuke said smiling. "That's why this thing hurts so much."

Two sound med nin ran out onto the field to cart Sasuke off.

"Don't touch him." Naruto said glaring at them.

"But if we don't get Sasuke-san to the med room he'll surely…"

"**_I SAID DON'T TOUCH HIM!"_** Naruto yelled as two tails of chakra exploded from his back.

"B-But if we don't…Orochimaru-sama will have our heads!"

**_"It's your choice…" _**Naruto said feircly, **_"Either you try to take Sasuke and die right now…or you leave him and die later."_**

The med nin fell down and scrambled back.

"That's more like it." Naruto said returning to normal.

"But he'll…" Started one.

"I have my own med nin on the way…" He looked up to see the newly released Sakura trotting across the arena towards them. "…I'll leave you two alone…she's probably gonna say stuff that is too mushy for my tastes…"

"Hehe…thanks a lot Naruto…" Sasuke said sarcastically.

"No prob." Naruto said with a chuckle. As Sakura drew close Naruto stood up and started to walk away. Sakura ran up to him and stopped. She threw her arms around Naruto.

"Thank you Naruto-kun…" She said. Naruto smiled.

"Don't thank me. I promised you I'd do it didn't I?" He said with his classic smile. "Go. He needs your medical skills. I kinda did a number on him…" He said scratching his head.

Sakura smiled and turned back to Sasuke. She immediately started on the gaping hole in his chest.

"Damn." Sakura said. "What did Naruto DO?"

"I'm not really sure…" Sasuke said with a slight smile. "All I know is that it beat me. He got so strong…"

"Sasuke…"

"He did it the right way too…" Sasuke said. "Not with kinjutsu…but with good old fashion sweat and hard work…" Sasuke looked up at the sky. "Maybe…when we get back to Konoha…I should rethink my life…"

Sakura didn't say anything, but she was very happy. A smile crept across her face. After nearly ten minutes Sakura decided that it'd be best to move Sasuke back to the group; safety in numbers and all.

"Hey Naruto-kun!" she yelled. "I need some help moving Sasuke!"

"Hai." Naruto came swiftly over and picked up Sasuke from under the arm. Sakura grabbed his legs and they started to carry him off the field.

"Not so fast." A familiar voice said. Naruto and Sakura both looked to find Orochimaru charging them. "I will not lose the Sharingan THAT easily!" He opened his mouth and a sword hilt started to come out. After a second an entire sword appeared, gripped by the snake Sennin's tongue. "Die!"

A flash of light came from behind Naruto and Sakura. Suddenly Kaoshi appeared in front of them and blocked Orochimaru's attack with his own sword.

"Hehe." Kaoshi said. "You guys get that kid outta here. Orochimaru's MINE!" Naruto and Sakura smiled and started carting Sasuke away.

"Good luck, Kaoshi-san." Naruto said in a respectful manner. He had always called Kaoshi, 'That Kaoshi guy', 'That guy', or some other disrespectful thing. But he figured that since Kaoshi had saved his life many times in the last few days, he deserved a little respect.

"I won't need it."

"Haha. Right." Naruto said with a smile as Sakura and himself moved Sasuke.

Kaoshi turned his attention to Orochimaru.

"Hello Orochimaru…" Kaoshi said through slanted eyes. Then he added. "…You know? I kind of think that 'Orochimaru-CHAN' does fit you rather nicely…"

"Call me what you wish." Orochimaru said grinning. "For the words of a dead man matter but naught in the grand scheme of things…"

"I could say the same to you." He said with confidence.

"Well then…prepare to die." Orochimaru shifted into a fighting stance.

"Hold on a moment." Kaoshi said with a smile. "I have to make some preparations." Kaoshi removed his trench coat revealing his bare chest and the black metal bands used to contain the curse seal. He dropped it on the ground and it kicked up a huge dust cloud. He put his hands together and made a seal. "Kuroringan." Kaoshi's eyes turned changed into a shape resembling that of a sharingan but it was black with white wheels. "This Orochimaru-chan is the result of all of those tests you had performed on me. You wanted to replicate the sharingan but this is as close as you got." Kaoshi looked at Orochimaru with his black and white eyes. "It can predict and replicate enemy attacks. It can even go as far as to memorize hand seals. But it can't perfectly copy a jutsu and that's what you want. So what did you do? You kicked me out. Not only that but you tried to KILL me while I was still weak."

"I guess I didn't succeed now did I?" Orochimaru said mockingly. "I never really was good at taking care of trash."

"Hehe. I'm glad you feel that way…so let me know what it's like to be KILLED by the trash you didn't clean up properly."

"I'll tell you when it happens." Orochimaru said with a smile. The two shifted their weight, each taking a defensive stance. The first to move would probably be the first to die.

The two suddenly disappeared. The ground around where they were standing exploded. Snakes exploded out of the ground and started attacking Kaoshi who fended them off with his sword. He had already opened Kaede's first release.

"CHIKIRI!" he yelled. All of the attacking snakes fell into pieces on the ground. He landed on the ground as several more snakes burst of the ground under him. "SHI--!" He yelled. "Ryukansen!" He spun around slashing through three of the snakes. Two more lunged at him. He threw Kaede into the air and ran through a series of seals. "Deterioration no jutsu!" He yelled as he thrust his hands onto the jaws of the oncoming snakes whose flesh dissolved on contact.

"Interesting jutsu…" Orochimaru said appearing behind Kaoshi. "I may have to steal it from you…"

"I'd like to see you try…" Kaoshi said with a sneer.

Orochimaru then rammed his hand through Kaoshi's chest. Orochimaru got a huge shock through his arm as Kaoshi poofed away in a cloud of smoke.

"What!" Orochimaru yelled in confusion.

"A jutsu inspired by Naruto." Kaoshi said glancing over at the boy. "Raikage Bunshin no jutsu."

"You've gotten much better since I last saw you…but you're still trash."

"Hehe…" Kaoshi laughed. "Well then…I don't mind being insulted…but Kaede here…she doesn't take to kindly to it." He said tapping the blade. "Why don't we show him what this trash can do Kaede?"

_"With pleasure."_

Kaoshi closed his eyes. He once again found himself in a completely empty void. This time two spheres of light appeared. Kaoshi reached out to the second sphere.

"_Kai."_ The two voices said in unison. Chakra exploded from Kaoshi's body.

"What the!" Orochimaru said through clenched teeth. The being he was looking at now was far more powerful than the one that Orochimaru had deemed useless all those years ago. He was already powerful enough to take on Naruto, Sasuke, and Kakashi all at once. "Shit." He said as he spit at the ground. "This isn't going to be as easy as I thought."

Kaede had changed shape again. The dull and bladed edges were still separated by a gap but now the blade extended down to the bottom of the hilt, guarding the hands.

The chakra that swirled around Kaoshi ripped apart the ground around him. Orochimaru threw a kunai at Kaoshi to test the danger of this chakra. As it reached the swirling chakra the kunai seemed to melt.

"You're not going to make this easy for me, ARE you?" Orochimaru complained.

"Hell no." Kaoshi said grinning. "I expect the same treatment from you. So please, just show me what you can really do." Orochimaru smiled.

"If you insist…" Orochimaru lunged at Kaoshi. He focused his chakra into his hands as he drew closer to the wall of chakra created by the cloud nin. As Orochimaru reached the barrier he threw his hands into it. The sphere started to warp and contort until it completely disappeared. Kaoshi swung at Orochimaru with his free hand. Orochimaru easily dodged and returned with a kick, which Kaoshi easily avoided. The two jumped back to disengage.

"How'd you do that?" Kaoshi asked.

"Hehe…" Orochimaru said grinning. "I simply disrupted your chakra with my own. It's very easy to do when it's all flowing in one direction…"

"I'll keep that in mind…" Kaoshi said. "Now if you don't mind…" Kaoshi lunged at Orochimaru. "I'd like to continue!" The two nin met in the middle of the arena slashing at each other with their swords. No matter how hard or how fast they attacked neither of them could hit the man in front of them.

They broke off yet again. The two panted in exhaustion.

**_BACK TO THE RATHER LARGE GROUP OF SIDELINE NINJA!_**

"This is going to go on for quite some time…" Kakashi said.

"Neither of them wishes to give up anything." Neji agreed.

"Kaoshi is fighting for his and all of our freedom." Sakura said half watching the battle and half working on Sasuke.

"And Orochimaru for himself…" Shikamaru added.

"I wonder whose will to win is greater…" Kiba mumbled.

"That doesn't really matter…" Tenten said.

"Why do you say that?" Kiba asked with a frown.

"It only matters who's stronger."

"No…" Naruto said. "That's the least important thing."

"How do you figure?" Tenten asked skeptically.

"As long as one of them has the will to fight…the battle will rage on." Naruto said.

"Yes." Kakashi agreed. "The last one standing…will not necessarily be the stronger."

"Then Orochimaru could win…?" Tenten asked nervously.

"No." Kakashi said flatly. "Kaoshi won't lose."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Trust me." Kakashi said.

**_BACK TO THE RAGING BATTLE BETWEEN KAOSHI AND ORO!_**

****Orochimaru and Kaoshi broke off from one another and Orochimaru threw a kunai at his opponent. Kaoshi had to sacrifice his footing in order to dodge. Orochimaru was on him in a flash.

"Damn you…!" Kaoshi yelled flailing around on the ground while dodging Orochimaru's attacks.

"STOP FLAILING LIKE A FISH AND FIGHT ME!" Orochimaru yelled wildly.

"FINE!" Kaoshi pushed off the ground with his hands and kicked Orochimaru in the face with both feet. Orochimaru was sent reeling in the other direction. Kaoshi took the opportunity and delved into the black void yet again.

_"Wow." _Kaede said. _"All three?"_

_"Yes."_ Kaoshi put simply. _"He's too strong."_ Kaoshi reached out to touch the last glowing orb when he noticed a small glimmer out of the corner of his eye. He looked towards it and saw nothing. _"Must be my imagination…"_ he said to himself as he reached for the last orb. He snapped back into reality. Kaede had nearly tripled in size but was similar in shape. _"You gained some weight Kaede-chan."_ He said jokingly.

_"Go fuck yourself."_ The voice said. _"Let's do this."_

_"Yeah…" _Kaoshi agreed. _"Let's."_


	14. Ch:18 Kaoshi VS Oro Part 2

Yeah…I guess it's about time I end the fight between Oro and Kaoshi…bleh…I don't wanna…

Well…I was gonna start…but…I FOUND THE EVANGELION MOVIE! Now I shall sit and waste time… I shall now sing the wasting time song.

_Wasting time!_

_Wasting time!_

_I should be writing my faaaan-fic!_

_Wasting time!_

_Wasting time!_

_Oh I can be such a dick!_

Wasn't that lovely?

Ranting time! So I keep wasting time on Photoshop 0.o… I can't stop. It's like an addiction…but I'm finally sitting down and writing…so be happy! BE HAPPY DAMN YOU! THAT'S NOT THE FACE OF A HAPPY PERSON!

Well…once again I've been delayed by uncontrollable outside forces. Those forces being Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion, Onimusha Dawn of Dreams, and Kingdom Hearts 2. So yeah. Blame them. Not me.

Okay…So I've realized that it's been about 3 weeks since my last update…time for a hardcore night of writing…I can write a few more pages…But this stupid fight just wont end…and this is one long intro…so I'm gonna stop and start writing…

GAGHH! HEALTH PROJECT!

Chapter 17: Oro Vs Kaoshi part 2 

Kaoshi stood at the far end of the arena, poised for an attack. He was waiting for Orochimaru to make a move. After several moments it came.

**"KICHIYOSE NO JUTSU!"** Yelled Orochimaru as an enormous snake appeared.

**"Errrr…"** the giant snake said. **"You brought me here for this? You dumb ass."**

"Heh." Kaoshi said biting his thumb. **"KICHIYOSE NO JUTSU!"** He yelled. A giant blue dragon rose above the cloud of smoke. The dragon however had no wings.

"You're kidding me…" Orochimaru said

**"You'd better give me at least a hundred sacrifices for this Orochimaru."** The enormous snake said.

"Hai, hai, hai." Orochimaru said waving his hand. "Now let's kill them." Manda and Orochimaru lunged towards Kaoshi and his dragon.

"Fools." Kaoshi said placing his hand on the dragon beside him. "Shall we?" The dragon nodded. **"Kaoshi rairyusen no jutsu!"** He yelled after doing several hand seals. He jumped onto the dragon's back and rammed his hands into its shoulders.

"What is he--!" Orochimaru started but was cut off. Out of the dragon's back exploded two giant wings of lightning. "Fuck." Orochimaru said as a giant lightning blade appeared from the dragon's arm. It charged.

Manda jumped in front of his "master" and took the blow full on. Before he disappeared he said.

**"TWO-HUNDRED! NO LESS!"**

_**BACK TO THE EVER EXPANDING NINJA TEAM ON THE SIDELINES!**_

"Kaoshi's got him on the ropes!" Naruto yelled gleefully. "KICK HIS ASS!"

"I don't know…" Shikamaru said skeptically. "It seems to be going a bit TOO well if you ask me…"

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT!" Naruto yelled angrily.

"He's right." Kakashi said pointing. "If you look closely…Kaoshi has already released his trump card, the third release. Orochimaru hasn't even tapped his wide array of jutsus. I'd say Kaoshi is at a disadvantage."

"But you said Kaoshi wouldn't lose!"

"That's true…but I never said he'd win either…did I?" The group looked at Kakashi for a moment.

"A…a draw?" Hinata asked. She had just awoken from her traumatized state caused by seeing Naruto with Sasuke's hand through his chest. "They'll both…?

"Die." Kakashi said calmly. "Yes. That's what I predict."

"HOW CAN YOU SAY THAT SO COLDLY!" Naruto yelled. "HE'S YOUR FRIEND! HE'S OUR ALLY! AND DAMMIT! HE'S MY FRIEND!"

"I never said…" Kakashi said lookin at Naruto. "That we'd let that happen."

"Kakashi-sensei?"

"If things get ugly. We'll bale out Kaoshi, finish Orochimaru, and fight our way out."

They all looked at Kakashi. They all hoped that it wouldn't come to that.

**_BACK TO THE FIGHT! YAAAY!_**

Kaoshi's dragon disappeared in a cloud of smoke as he released the summon. Once again the two men stood perfectly still, examining the other for any hint of movement. Orochimaru started to stroll along around Kaoshi.

"You know Kaoshi-kun…" Orochimaru said slyly. "Maybe I shouldn't have kicked you out of here and tried to kill you. You've become quite strong."

"Gee, thanks." Kaoshi retorted. "What's your point?"

"Well…I'd like to offer you a position among my higher ranks. Seeing as I just lost my apprentice…I need someone else to pass on my skills to. I could show you what true strength is."

"Phht." Kaoshi laughed. "You expect me to come crawling back to someone who KIDNAPPED me, had horrid experiments done on me, and then kicked me out and tried to kill me?"

Orochimaru looked thoughtful and after a moment said,

"That's about the size of it."

"Well you can take your offer and **_Insert whatever you think will fit best in context here_**"

"Well…if that's truly your answer…" Orochimaru said shifting his weight into a fighting stance.

"It is."

"Then you will suffer an eternity in Hell." He said. His flesh started to ripple and change shape. His once pale white skin started changing in color and texture. Green scales started appearing all over his body. After several moments Orochimaru's body stopped mutating. What stood there was no longer a man, but some mix between a snake and a man.

A large number of gasps came from the crowd.

"**You see Kaoshi-kun?"** Orochimaru slurred from his newly formed mouth. **"This is what true power is."** Chakra swirled around him ripping up pieces of earth as it did.** "Are you afraid?"** Kaoshi smirked.

"Why the hell would I be afraid of you?" he said with a chuckle. "It's not like I haven't seen you all Übered up before." _Author's note: Hehe…Übered…_

**"But you must certainly realize the gravity of your situation." **Orochimaru said confidently.

"Yeah, yeah…" Kaoshi said with a quick hand gesture. "Gravity…whatever." This got Orochimaru a little upset.

**"How can you be so calm when you're staring your DEATH in the face!"**

"Because." Kaoshi said with a grin. "I don't plan on dying here." He unsnapped the black metal bands on his arm. A black chakra started to ooze from where the bands were loose. He slowly removed the bands revealing a level one curse seal. The mark of the seal spread across his body like a wildfire bringing chakra along with it.

**"You FOOL!"** Orochimaru yelled. **"Do you think that THAT will help you?"**

"_Who says that's I got up my sleeve?"_ Kaoshi retorted with a smile.

**"EH!" **said Orochimaru with an expression of great surprise.

_"Seishou yuukai no jutsu!"_ he yelled as he rammed Kaede into his stomach.

**"Spirit fusion?" **Orochimaru said confused. **"Is there even such a thing?"**

_"Yup…" _Kaoshi said coughing up some blood. _"It's pretty nasty too."_

**"But you're bleeding to death…"**

_"That's the plan."_

**"Taking the easy way out eh?"** Orochimaru chuckled. **"That is something I'd expect from you…"**

_"Not the easy way out…"_ Kaoshi said with a grin. _"Just watch."_ Kaede started glowing bright blue. The blade kept getting brighter and brighter until one had to avert their gaze in order to not be blinded.

Suddenly the light disappeared. Kaoshi stood in the exact same place he had before in the exact same way. The only difference was Kaede. She was back to the standard blade form. Kaoshi knelt down placing his hand on the hilt. He opened his mouth and spoke with two voices.

_**"**Come…"_ He said in a commanding tone.

**"Oh…"** Orochimaru chuckled. **"Since you couldn't do it yourself…you need my help to finish the job?"** Kaoshi didn't respond. **"Well I'll be happy to oblige!"** Orochimaru rushed at Kaoshi with full force.

_"Blade of blood…"_ Kaoshi whispered. He pulled the blade out of himself through his left side. The blade arced through the air leaving a small trail of blood where the blade had traveled.

The crowd sat on the edge of their seats; unsure of what just happened. They saw Orochimaru turn into some crazy beast thing, Kaoshi stab himself and glow blue, and then, when Orochimaru reached Kaoshi, he did some weird attack causing damage to his own body to gain more chakra.

Orochimaru looked back. **"Nice." ** He said as his body split in two.

_"Thanks…"_

**"But not nice enough."** Orochimaru said as another Orochimaru pulled himself out of the old Orochimaru's mouth.

_"Fuck."_ Kaoshi said resisting the urge to vomit. _"You just don't die do you?"_

**"I do…"** Orochimaru said. **"I just make it as hard as humanly possible to do so."**

_"So basically…" _Kaoshi/Kaede said annoyed. _"I've gotta kill you and leave no trace behind."_

**"That's just about the size of it." **Orochimaru said gleefully. **"Can you pull it off?"**

_"Yup…" _They said. _"It'll be close…but I'm pretty sure we can." _

'_This is the moment you've been waiting for Kaoshi…'_ he thought to himself. '_you have to pull this off. After all he's done to you…to so many people…there's no way you can afford to let this man live…"_

_"Kaoshi" _Kaede's voice said from inside Kaoshi's head. _"Way to leave me out of the equation…but whatever." _She said with a hint of excitement in her voice. _"but whatever…just get your ass down here now!"_

_"Hai?"_ He delved into the darkness inside himself once again. _"What is it?"_

_"Look"_ There, alongside the three main releases was a black ball of energy.

_"It isn't…"_ Kaoshi said surprised.

_"The Hell release" _She said finishing his sentence for him.

_"Can we open it?"_

_"Yes"_

_"We've never done a release while using this jutsu. What if it fails?"_

_"It won't"_

_"Well then…Shall we?"_

_"Hai"_

Kaoshi opened his eyes; before him stood Orochimaru, the man who he had dreamt of killing for the past six years. Now he could.

_"Well Orochimaru-chan."_ Kaoshi said. _"It looks like I have to retract my previous statement."_ Orochimaru chuckled. _"Seems I've done some underestimating."_

**"Damn right."**

_"Now I'll be able to kill you no problem."_

**"WHAT!" **The beast yelled in anger and confusion. **"Are you telling me that by closing your eyes for a few seconds…you're THAT much stronger?"**

_"Yes."_ He stated simply. He lifted his blade and gripped it with both hands. He started to murmur something but Orochimaru couldn't quite hear it. After a moment Kaoshi yelled, **_"BY THE BLACK INFERNOS OF HELL I RELEASE YOU! KAEDE!"_** A torrent of chakra started to swirl around Kaoshi. The skies grew dark and lightning flashed around the two combatants. _"**Welcome to Hell Orochimaru-chan."**_ When Orochimaru looked at Kaoshi he drew back in surprise. What stood before him was no longer the handsome young cloud nin whom he was fighting, but another being entirely.

Kaoshi's skin was a dark gray, almost black, his face had been replaced by some hideous monster's, veins appeared all over his body, and to make things worse, he had wings, crazy black bat-like wings. His eyes had turned blue on the outside but the inside remained the black and white Kuroringan, which Orochimaru had so nicely given him.

Judging by Orochimaru's shocked state Kaoshi figured that he transformed into some crazy flying platypus or something. He took a look at himself.

**_"I don't know Oro-chan."_** He said with a laugh. **_"I kinda like it."_** Orochimaru stepped back, obviously frightened by the beast in front of him. He had never seen anything so terrible before in his life. **_"So what do you say, Oro-chan?"_** Kaoshi mused. **_"Would you like to finish this now or later?"_**

Okay, Okay, Okay…I know some of you were hoping for more…but what can I say…I put this damn project off till the last minute and I can't afford not to get it done. And as you can see from the blog up top…I've been busy with more pressing matters. I'll update again as soon as possible to finish the fight. Peace.


	15. Ch: 19 Out of the bloodbathFINALLY

Haha…first person narration…you know you love it.

Just recapping so you fools know what's going on.

I was also thinking about writing a short fic about Kaoshi's past. Lemme know if you're interested about that kinda stuffs.

Okay. Well I'm starting to think that this computer is in it's last days…viruses…Trojans …hackers…BUT I WILL NOT GIVE UP! breaks out plastic katana and starts beating PC TAKE THAT YOU DAMN VIRUSES AND TROJAN HORSES…OR WHATEVER YOU ARE! I'm not very computer savvy

Well. My computer's all fixed…back to the story…

Yes, yes…I stole that move from Kenshin… so sue me…

I admit…fairly anti-climactic…but whatever. I'm just so glad that this part's over. But don't worry, there's a reason it was anti-climactic…so…I'm not gonna spoil anything…but yeah.

Warning. I say fuck a lot in this chapter. So if you're offended by my constant use of the word fuck…then grow the fuck up and get the fuck over it. Thank you and have a nice fucking day.

Chapter 19: Out of the bloodbath…FINALLY I mean…how many chapters was that? Like…almost 10 chapters since they were caught…wait…this is a long-ass chapter title…

Two ninja stood in the middle of an arena. The silent crowd had sat at (hehe…rhymage) the edge of their seats for the whole battle and this part was no exception. The home team had lost five matches in a row and this one also seemed to be heading that way.

On the sidelines, ten shinobi and one dog also watched. This rag-tag group was the visiting team. More like captive team…but that's beside the point. I'm trying to make a fucking metaphor here.

The strongest ninja in the Hidden Village of the Sound, Orochimaru, was being utterly thrashed by Kannai Kaoshi, who Orochimaru had tried to kill some years ago due to Kaoshi being unable to harbor the synthesized Sharingan.

Now back to the arena

Kakashi couldn't believe how inhumanly strong his once-teammate had become. His power easily rivaled that of the Yondaime Hokage who had sealed the Kyubi inside Naruto fifteen years before. He'd have to ask Kaoshi about it when he wasn't fighting a giant snake-man or there wasn't a plethora of young nosey ninja about.

**_"Now Oro-chan…"_** The newly transformed Kaoshi said. **_"I hope you're prepared. I've given you a few moments to reflect upon your life and beg forgiveness for what you've done."_**

**"You think I'd ever BEG for ANYTHING!" **Orochimaru yelled angrily as he ran through a series of hand seals. His hands started to glow.

**_"Do you really think you can do anything to me?"_** Kaoshi said confidently.

**"I DON'T THINK! I KNOW!"** Orochimaru yelled in a blind fury.

**_"That first part is obvious…but the second statement…less so."_** Orochimaru spat at Kaoshi's feet.

**"Hehe…"** Orochimaru chuckled. **"You're cocky."**

**_"And rightfully so."_** Kaoshi said.

**"Well…let's see you back up that attitude…"** Orochimaru said with a grin.

**_"That's fairly tough talk from someone who was about to wet himself with fear."_** Kaoshi said with a slight chuckle. Orochimaru said nothing, instead he charged Kaoshi. **_"That's right Oro-chan…"_** Kaoshi said with a grin. **_"…Let's finish this shit."_**

**"RAAAAAHHH!"** Orochimaru continued across the arena. **"IT'S TIME YOU LEARNED YOUR PLACE…TRASH!"**

**_"Kaede."_** Kaoshi said.

_"Don't worry Kaoshi…it's already prepared."_

_**"What would I do without you Kaede-chan?"**_ He said sarcastically.

_"You'd be in a pit of mud fornicating with whatever furry creature happened to venture too close to your pit of filth. Now shut the fuck up and kill that fuck-tard."_

_**"I wonder…do female sword spirits have PMS too…?"**_ Kaoshi wondered out loud as he sheathed Kaede and got into a wide stance. He did several hand seals and placed his hand on Kaede's hilt. **_"AMAKAKERU RAIRYU NO HIRAMEKI!"_** Giant wings of electricity exploded from his back. The air crackled with the sheer volume of chakra pouring out of the two ninja on the field.

Kaoshi stood poised, ready for Orochimaru's attack. As he drew near, Orochimaru summoned an army of snakes after Kaoshi.

**_"Kaede…if you would."_**

_"It'd be my pleasure."_ As if a spirit were summoned to the field, Kaede stepped free from Kaoshi's body and destroyed the oncoming beasts with a flash of exploding chakra. _"Foolish creatures." _Kaede stepped back and motioned towards the oncoming Orochimaru. _"He's all yours."_

**TO THE SIDLINE NINJA!**

"It looks like Kaoshi has things under control." Kakashi said. "It's time to formulate our escape." The collection of shinobi all nodded in agreement. "Neji-kun."

"Hai?"

"What were Tsunade's orders exactly?"

"To find you and provide you with backup. Then once free one or more of us are to report back to Konoha providing that there are still enough of us to carry out the mission."

"I'd say we're fine on out numbers…" Kakashi said looking around at all of the teenagers. "Neji-kun, Kiba-kun, and Akamaru. You three will go back to Konoha and report to Tsunade that we're all okay."

"But…" Neji started. "Wouldn't it make sense for me to continue with you? I am a Jonin after all…"

"That's why you're going back." Kakashi said. "It makes the most sense this way. With your Byakugan you'll be able to see anyone that's going to attack you. Plus, with Kiba and Akamaru there you'll have ample backup if anyone does catch up to you."

"Don't you think that they'll notice us missing?" Neji pointed out.

"I can handle that!" Naruto chimed in. He performed a Kage Bunshin and a Henge no jutsu copying Neji, Kiba, and Akamaru.

"Fine." Neji said with a snooty pout.

"Then it's settled."

**BACK TO THE ORORORORORO KAOSHISHISHI FIGHT!**

_**"Thank you."**_ Kaoshi watched Orochimaru with his Kuroringan closely. The second Orochimaru stepped into Kaoshi's range, the blade was let loose, severing the upper half of Orochimaru's body from the lower portion. As Orochimaru stumbled past a spinning Kaoshi, the same blade cut Orochimaru in half again from his head down. Kaoshi spun around and placed the blade in the center of the diced Orochimaru chunks before they could start to fall and uttered a simple word.

**_"Kai."_** A giant dragon made entirely of lightning exploded from the blade disintegrating Orochimaru's body completely. **_"And that's how we cook a bitch."_** Kaoshi said with a laugh. **_"Any questions?"_**

_"Funny. Hilarious. Another synonym for, 'you're a complete idiot'."_ Kaede said in an annoyed tone. _"Let's get out of here."_

**_"Yeah…right…" _**Kaoshi concentrated and closed the Hell Release. He and Kaede's spirit ran to the team. "We gotta get the fuck outta here before they can get down here."

"How'd you…" Kakashi said speechless; but not really, because that would be an oxymoron.

"No time. I'll explain later, let's go." The ninja quickly agreed and bolted for the nearest exit, followed by an angry, homicidal mob.

"Well this is pleasant…" Kakashi said.

"Just like old times, eh?" Kaoshi said with a smile.

"Too much like old times…" Kakashi said as he tossed an exploding tag behind them. The explosion blocked the path behind them saving them from the angry mob. "Well that helps a little…"

"A very little." Naruto whined as he carried a still very wounded Sasuke on his back.

"Don't bounce so much baka." Sasuke grunted.

"What…you mean like THIS?" Naruto said jumping up and down.

"GAHGH!" Sasuke yelped in pain. "BAKA!" he yelled as he smacked Naruto on the head.

"They haven't seen each other in almost 3 years…" Kakashi said. "And this is the first thing they do?"

"Yeah…" Sakura said with a content look on her face. "…It's the way it should be."

"Yup."

The group of ninja rounded a corner to see a barred gate blocking their exit.

"RAIKIRI!" Kakashi yelled as he rammed his hand through the first bolt on the door. "After we're in the Lightning Country…" Kakashi said wearily. "I'm gonna sleep…for a month."

"You got it Kakashi." Kaoshi said with a slight smile.

"I'm just too fucking old for this…" Kakashi sighed.

"Please…you're younger than me."

_"Gentlemen, I know this conversation is important…but can we PLEASE get ourselves the fuck out of this hell hole?"_

"Yes ma'am." Kakashi and Kaoshi said in unison.

"I like this girl…" Sakura whispered to Tenten as they walked through the gate.

"Yeah…"

"Come on you two, don't dawdle." Kakashi said as they emerged into daylight. He bit his thumb and slammed it on the ground. Pakkun appeared in a cloud of smoke. "Pakkun, lead these three back to Konoha." He said motioning towards Neji, Kiba, and Akamaru."

"Of course." Pakkun said looking at the three. "Follow me, and be as silent as possible." They darted off and were quickly out of sight.

"Okay…" Kaoshi said looking around. "Northeast…" he said looking around for the sun. "This way."

"Hold up." Kakashi said. "We need a strategy and a formation. Kaoshi, you'll be up front. You'll be our tank."

"Right."

"Lee," Kakashi continued. "You'll be second in line. You're fast and can back up anyone in the team."

"Hai, sensei!"

"Then will be Shikamaru." Kakashi looked at him. "Shikamaru is an excellent tactician and will be the second-in-command. Follow his orders unless I say something to counter them."

"Whatever…" Shikamaru said masking a prideful blush.

"Next will be Tenten. You'll provide ranged support for the entire team."

"Gotcha."

"Then Naruto and Sasuke. They'll be mostly incapacitated and will need the most protection."

"Aww man…" Naruto whined.

"Get over it." Sasuke scoffed.

"Then Sakura. If anyone gets injured it'll be important that she can get to them quickly. Especially Naruto or Sasuke."

"Okay."

"Hinata. You and I will be in the back for rear support. I want your Byakugan active at all times until we reach the Lightning Country. Understood?"

"H-Hai…" she said sheepishly.

"Hinata I hope you understand the importance of the role you play here." Kakashi continued.

"Y-yes…"

"If you should fail, all of us could be pushing up daisies." Hinata shivered. She had never had so much responsibility before. She'd only been on one "B" class mission and that was it. "Can you handle it?"

"Umm…"

"Of course Hina-chan can do it!" Naruto said putting in his two-cents worth. "Right Hina-chan?" Hinata smiled.

_"Naruto believes in me!"_

"Hai." She said confidently.

"Good." Kakashi said. "Let's go."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

**2 days later.**

Nine shinobi stood on the border to the Lightning Country.

"Great job Hinata!" Kakashi said patting the exhausted girl on the back. "We knew you could do it!" She smiled and blushed a little. That was until everyone agreed with him. Then her face became totally red.

"So how do we continue?" Asked a half-conscious Naruto.

"Well I suppose we could keep going till we got to the Hidden Village of the Clouds…it's only another day and a half's run from here" Kaoshi suggested.

**"NO!"** Was the very loud response from everyone else in the party.

"Just a suggestion…jeez…" Kaoshi shrugged. "I know someone who'll put us up for the night."

**"YES!"** Everyone else agreed.

"All of us?" asked Sakura.

"Yeah." Kaoshi said. "They run an inn. I stay there all the time. It's about a ten minute walk."

**"PRAISE THA LO'D!"** Yelled Naruto in his cliché black priest impression flinging his hands into the air dropping Sasuke.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

**12 minutes later.**

A young kunoichi sat at a table in the local inn. Around her neck was a forehead protector from the Hidden Village of the Sand. Her blonde hair was pulled back into four parts, each part sticking out. She sighed.

"He's two days late…" she said with a groan.

"He'll show up missy don't worry."

"My concerns are none of your business. Sir." She glared at the innkeeper.

"S-sorry miss…"

Just then, nine ninja walked into the inn. Two of them were incapacitated. One had semi-long black hair and was wearing a dark blue shirt that covered his mouth. The other had spikey blonde hair and was beaten to a bloody pulp.

"Did you have to hit me THAT hard Sakura-chan?"

"Yes. Yes I did."

"I think you ruptured my spleen…"

"And it'll stay ruptured way I can find time in my busy schedule to fix it."

"Would you two please shut up?" A boy said. The kunoichi sitting at the table looked up, recognizing the voice. She saw a young man with a black ponytail, lazy eyes, and a chuunin jacket and chuckled.

"If it isn't Shikamaru-kun." She said slyly. Shikamaru gulped and stopped dead in his tracks and slowly turned his head.

"…Hello…Temari-san…"


	16. Ch: 20 Just a lot of nothing

Yeah that's right bitches. I've already started on chapter 20. The same night I finished chapter 19. How's that for prompt?

Damn mushy stuff I should smack it until there's nothing left to smack. That'd show it.

Yeah Kingdom Hearts 2 brought about the whole little mermaid thing…

Yeah…sorry guys/girls…my life just all got super hectic all of a sudden…I haven't slept in 4 days…so yeah…you can imagine what that's been doing to my creative abilities (or lack there of)…so forgive me for having this chapter come out so late so bad.

Ugh…girls…that's all I can say. Well…that's a lie…I can say a lot of things…like… ugh…my feet hurt…or…ugh…my back hurts. Stuff like that…I haven't been in the best of moods lately…so much that one of my best friends told me to stop being emo. I guess I'll give it a shot… (FYI…I'm not normally emo)

Another bit of anime discovery…go watch Sexy Commando Gaiden…It's hilarious. DO IT!

Chapter 20: Just a lot of nothing

Temari eyed the group of ninja.

"So if you're all here…" she looked at Kaoshi. "You're the only one I don't recognize and you're two days late. Explain."

"We got captured…and…"

"Do I look like I care?" Temari said angrily. "You're late. I had to wait two whole days that could have been better spent." She glared at Kaoshi. "Well?"

"Umm…"

"And I know this is somehow Shikamaru's fault." She said eying Shikamaru.

"WHAT!" He yelled angrily. "Why would it be my fault!"

"Because it's always your fault." She said simply. Shikamaru frowned.

"Well we're staying here another night." He said, and before Temari could interrupt him he added, "And you're going to deal with it too. We're all exhausted and we've got two wounded people. Get over yourself and deal with it."

Tenten leaned over and whispered in Sakura's ear.

"They're like a dysfunctional married couple…"

"I know…"

"WHAT WAS THAT!" Temari and Shikamaru yelled angrily.

After several moments of restraining Temari so she wouldn't try to kill Sakura or Tenten, they rented their rooms. Since Temari already had a room, they split the team up into three groups of three: Sakura, Tenten, and Hinata in one room; Naruto, Sasuke, and Kakashi in another room; and Kaoshi, Lee, and Shikamaru in the last.

In the next few hours wounds were healed, namely Sasuke's and Naruto's. It was 7:30 P.M. by the time Sakura had finished healing the party.

Everyone was in one room talking about the events of the past few days when there came a knock at the door. Naruto stood up to go answer it.

"Don't bother…" said Shikamaru.

"Neh?" Naruto asked confused. "Why?"

"It's Temari…" Shikamaru said standing up to go open the door. He went over and opened it, dodging a flurry of punches as after he had done so. "I suppose you want to be invited in…don't you…?"

"Wow, we're quick aren't we Shi-kun?" She said patting his head.

"I've told you a hundred times not to call me that." He said calmly.

"And I've told you a hundred times, 'no'."

"Troublesome…" The Nara said with a sigh.

"Damn straight." Temari said with a grin. "So, what're we talking about?" The sand nin asked.

"We had just finished talking about the last few days…" Naruto said. "And we were just about to go to bed."

"Bed?" Temari scoffed. "But it's only 8:45…"

"Yeah." Kakashi said. "And we're fucking tired. We spent almost 3 days running. Stopping only for bathroom breaks."

"Whatever…" Temari said nonchalantly. "I'll be in my room if you need me…"

"Wasn't it you who came in here?" Shikamaru asked.

"SILENCE INFIDEL!" Temari yelled as she attacked Shikamaru with her giant fan. He dodged quickly and trapped her in his favorite jutsu.

"Just let us sleep in peace…okay?" He said lazily. "Or I'll make you do unpleasant things. Got it?" Temari nodded solemnly.

After their battle in the chuunin exams Temari had challenged Shikamaru several times, she hadn't beaten him once. No matter what she did, the shadow user was always four steps ahead of her.

It was nearly midnight. Sasuke and Naruto had spent the entire time playing a game called, "Wanna know how I know you're gay?" and Kakashi was ready to kill them. Finally it ended when Kakashi told them to shut up under threat of castration.

**THE NEXT DAY!**

It was about 4:30 when Naruto woke up. He rolled over looking at the clock and cursed himself. Once he was up there was no choice but to embrace the day in all its glory. He stood up, put on some pants, and walked outside. He started down the stairs hoping there was someone to talk to, anyone would do, and he just needed to pass about four hours till everyone else woke up. As he got to the bottom, he saw Hinata sitting at a table drinking some tea. She noticed him out of the corner of her eye and smiled slightly. Seeing her made Naruto very happy for some reason.

"Neh, hey Hina-chan!" He said rather loudly.

"Shhh…Naruto-kun…people are still sleeping." She said in a whisper.

"Oh…right…" He said covering his mouth. He looked at her with a sidelong glance. "Why're you up so early?"

"I always get up early…" she said. "Hiashi-sama usually gets me up at 4:00 for training."

"ARE YOU…" Naruto shushed himself. "Are you kidding me?"

"No…why? What time do people usually get up?" Naruto looked at her slack jawed.

"I usually get up around 8:00 or so…"

There was a long silence that lasted nearly five minutes. Finally Naruto said,

"Hey, Hina-chan. You wanna go for a walk…maybe catch the sunrise?"

"W-what?" She said startled. Before she had time to respond Naruto grabbed her arm and pulled her through the door.

"C'mon Hina-chan!" He said cheerfully. "It'll be fun!"

"O-okay…" They walked outside into the brisk morning air. Naruto took a deep breath in.

"Ahhh…it smells so good here…" Naruto said. "Much better than stinky old Konoha…" Hinata said nothing but smiled to herself. After all, she WAS walking alone with Naruto.

After a few moments they reached a nice little hill that overlooked a huge lake.

"This looks like a good spot right?" Hinata nodded causing Naruto to smile and plop down onto the grass. He yawned. A ray of light shattered the dark as the sun peered over the horizon. "Wow, the sun sure rises early here up North…" Hinata didn't respond. Naruto looked over towards the girl who was lying down next to him. She looked at the sun with half closed eyes with a look of content on her face. Naruto had never seen Hinata like this before, the way the sunlight danced in her eyes, the way her hair blew in the brisk morning wind, not to mention a look of content which was something that rarely showed up on her face. If Naruto had to describe her in one word, he'd have picked beautiful. "Woah…" he said without thinking. The girl turned her head towards the sound.

"What was that Naruto-kun?"

"N-nothing." Naruto said with a slight blush on his face. This struck Hinata as odd. She had never seen Naruto blushing before. However, the blush was soon invisible due to the red sunrise.

"Beautiful…" Hinata said smiling to herself.

"Yeah…" Naruto agreed looking out over the lake.

**"There you see her**

**Sitting there across the way**

**She don't got a lot to say**

**But there's something about her**

**And you don't know why**

**But you're dying to try**

**You wanna kiss the girl…"**

The fox sang to no one in particular.

_"Kyubi…what the fuck?"_

**"What…don't you have that song memorized too? Little Mermaid…good movie"**

_"When the hell did you watch the Little Mermaid?"_

**"I'm old Naruto…I've seen a lot of things…"**

"Wow…" Naruto said out loud without realizing it.

"Hmmm?" Hinata looked over at him.

"Nothing." He said with a chuckle.

"Ohh…" she looked down at the ground. She wished he would just talk to her, start a conversation. But he just lie there looking at the lake. If she wanted to talk to him, she'd have to start the conversation herself. "S-so…Naruto-kun…" she said immediately regretting it afterwards.

"Hmm?" The blonde said looking up at her.

"Uhh…I…ummm…" her face turned so red that it was even visible against the sunrise. Naruto sat up and looked her in the eyes.

"What's up?"

"Uhhh…." She managed to say. The lump in her throat grew bigger.

All of a sudden two kunai flew from nowhere. Naruto barely dodged them.

"What the…?" He yelled angrily. "Sasuke get your ass out here!" Sasuke chuckled as he walked out into the open.

"Giving up on Sakura-chan are we?" the Uchiha said with a slight smirk.

"AGKKAGIAIAS!" Naruto yelled as he stood up fists raised. "Who ever said that?" (that word is said Ag-kik-ag-eeay-eeas)

"You'd better watch what you say Naruto-kun…" Sasuke said pointing at Hinata.

"What are you talking about…?" Naruto said looking at the girl sitting next to him.

"Haha…wow Naruto-kun…just…wow." Sasuke chuckled. "You're still this dense? I would have thought that you'd have at least become a little less ignorant since I last saw you."

"Go blow…" Naruto said angrily. "And I was hoping that you'd piss me off less. I guess some things never change."

"I guess not." Sasuke chuckled again. "Well…I'm off to train…" he said walking away from the two. "Later." He walked off giving the two a slight hand gesture.

"Sasuke…" Naruto said with a sigh. "What a dick." He gave a slight smile. "Just like old times…" He looked back down at Hinata who had her arms wrapped around her knees. She looked over at him.

"Do you still like Sakura…Naruto?" Her voice was wavering as if she was about to cry, but she didn't stutter once, making her seem confident.

"Um…I don't know…" Naruto said scratching his head with a chuckle. "I haven't really thought about it lately."

"What do you mean…?" she asked confused.

"Well…" Naruto started. "You see…I've been having so much fun…you know…hanging out with you guys…Lee, Tenten, and you…to even have much time to even think about Sakura. So who knows?"

"Umm…who'd you say…that you're having the most fun with Naruto?" Naruto thought for a second. The deeper meaning of the seemingly innocent question escaped him.

"Well…probably you Hina-chan…" he said scratching his chin. "I mean…we had fun that time in back in that town that the author forgot to give a name…right?"

"Y-Yes!" Hinata said nodding her head vigorously. "But you'd think that people would notice something like not naming a town…"

"Yeah right?" Naruto said. "What's up with that? Annnyyywwaaayyss…that's good that you had a good time Hina-chan…maybe we should do it again."

"Y-y-y-y-y-y-y-y-y-y-yes-s-s…" she said as her face exploded with redness. "I-I-I-I-I-I'd l-l-lik-ke th-that…"

"Good." Naruto said with a smile. "Maybe they'll have good movies in the village hidden in the clouds…"

"N-Naruto-k-kun?" Hinata asked.

"Nani desu?" Naruto asked.

"Did you ask me out on a d--" her voice was cut off by one much louder.

"Heeyy! Naruto!" Sakura yelled up from the road. "Come on! We've still got a day and a half of walking to get to the Village Hidden in the Clouds!"

"FIINNE!" Naruto yelled down at her. "Jeez…some people are so rude…" Naruto started running down the hill towards the others.

"Naruto-kun…" the Hyuuga said as she watched the boy run down the hill. She followed him after a moment but at a much slower pace. When she finally got there everyone looked kind of annoyed that she had taken so long.

After a moment Shikamaru said, "Troublesome…" and started walking. Everyone else followed suit. Hinata walked a bit behind everyone sort of depressed for some reason she couldn't put her finger on. Naruto had just in effect asked her out on a date. But Naruto is naïve… knowing him, he had no clue what he had just said. On the other hand, Naruto has on occasion been known to be fairly smart. She just didn't know what to think. She let out a sigh.

Naruto suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

"Why the long face Hina-chan?"

"Oh! N-Naruto-kun!" She said surprised. "No reason…just thinking…"

"Oh." Naruto said walking along next to her. An awkward silence fell over the two for some time. Sakura looked over to Tenten.

"Some things just never change…"

"True that."


	17. Ch: 21 Another Encounter

Haha…I know that Temari was OOC right there…but you know you love it…

Sorry about the repeat chapter post…but I noticed, after a few people pointed out that I put Onee-san instead of what I should have put…So, instead of fixing it and leaving it be…I decided to go the most roundabout way possible.

Chapter 21:

It was a strange sight…seeing ten ninja walk on a road in broad daylight. Many people hid, but some just gawked. After all…it's not often that you see a ninja outside of their village…because once they're out of the village…you CAN'T see them. And most of these Ninja happened to be from Konoha…which was even more odd.

"So…" Naruto said in a whiney manner. "When's breakfast?"

"Shut up brat." Temari said angrily. "You've been asking that for the past two hours."

"Cuz I'm huuunnnggggrrryyy!"

"STFU!" Temari yelled at the blonde. "NOOB!"

"Huuuuuuuuuhhhh!" Naruto squeaked. "Why you gotta be like that Temari-chan?" Naruto realized his mistake only after it was too late.

"What…did you…just call me?" Her eyes turned red with fury.

"NOTHING TEMARI-SAN!" Naruto said throwing up his hands in defense.

"I THOUGHT so." She sped on ahead.

"Jeez Naruto…you should know by now that the only person who can get away with that is Shikamaru…" Sakura said quietly to the self-proclaimed future Rokudaime.

"Well she needs to get that pigeon dislodged from her ass if you ask me…" he whispered back. Shikamaru appeared next to the two.

"I totally agree Naruto…" He looked over at Temari. "She's so troublesome."

They walked for another few hours until they reached a clearing.

"I know I said that there was still another day or so till we reached the gate to the Cloud Village…but I decided to use the back entrance. We're here." The group looked around trying to find any sort of gate or anything. Naruto raised his hand.

"There's nothing here…Kaoshi-kun…" he said.

"I'd hate to agree with the brat…but he's right." Temari snorted. "This had better not have been a wild goose chase."

"It's not don't worry." Kaoshi said as he quickly ran through a set of hand seals. "It's here." He slammed his hand down on the ground. As he did so, the ground fell away revealing a tunnel. "Walk this way." Kaoshi said stepping into the tunnel. Everyone did as he said.

"So…The Village Hidden in the Clouds…is underground?" Tenten asked.

"No, no." Kaoshi said smiling. "This is just a tunnel leading into the mountains were the village is."

"Oh…" Tenten paused for a second. "I didn't see any mountains while we were walking…"

"That's because there were none visible." Kaoshi said. "This is a really fucking long tunnel."

"Fuckin…" Naruto started to say but then decided there was little point.

They spent nearly a day in the tunnel. Several misadventures occurred. Naruto got lost, Hinata got her foot stuck in some rubble, and Tenten didn't want to use the bathroom around other people…the usual. Nothing terribly traumatic happened anyways.

It was early morning when they got out of the tunnel. Nearly 4:00 AM. As soon as they stepped out of the tunnel a think mist engulfed them.

"What the hell?" Naruto said surprised. "Where'd all these clouds come from!"

"It IS the Hidden Village of the Clouds Naruto…" Tenten said mockingly.

"ACK!" Naruto yelled in surprise. "I knew that…" he said smoothly. "I was just testin' ya." The girls giggled, with the exception of Temari, who doesn't giggle. Instead, she joined in with the males and sighed.

"How troublesome…" Shikamaru said as he sped up slightly.

"Oh…Kakashi…" Kaoshi said looking at the copy nin. "Do you still have…that thing?" Kakashi reached into his bag and pulled out the package from before. "Good…cuz you'll be needing it." Kaoshi said with a grin.

"Ohh I know." Kakashi said. "Why do you think I would bring such a rare item if I didn't need it?"

"True." Kaoshi said sauntering along.

"I've been wondering…" Naruto interjected. "What is that…exactly?"

"Not for you to know."

"But--!" Naruto started but was cut off by a punch from Sakura.

"I'm sure there's a good reason for that…right Kakashi-sensei?"

"Uh." Kakashi paused. "Yes…very dangerous. So dangerous…that it could corrupt you with ease."

"What could be so powerful as to corrupt ninja?" Sasuke said.

"You're one to talk Sasuke…" Naruto said with a grin. "You were corrupted by a rubber pedophile man who likes his 'snakes'."

"You little…!" Sasuke started at Naruto but found an incredibly sharp blade at his neck.

"Sasuke-kun." Kaoshi said to the Uchiha. "You've come back to us…that's all well and good…you CLAIM to be our ally… but I still don't trust you. You were with Orochimaru for over two years…"

"If you think that stupid whore of a ninja can corrupt me…" Sasuke said. "…then you obviously underestimate me."

"Still…just know that I'm watching you…" the blade was slowly removed from Sasuke's throat. Sasuke smiled a kind of evil smile. Kaoshi turned away from the Uchiha and started along the series of tunnels again.

"Hmph…" Sasuke grunted and continued after the cloud nin.

"That was…special…" Naruto said.

"Yeah…" Tenten said as a sweat drop rolled down her cheek.

"He's right though…" Kakashi said. "Sasuke is a liability at this point. We can't afford any mess-ups." The copy ninja looked at Sasuke. "Ugh…"

"True…this whole situation is very delicate…" Naruto said as he closed his eyes in thought. As he did so he tripped over a stalagmite and fell down a small hill into a pool of water. "Fuckin…" The boy said as he sat neck deep in the water.

"Nice one baka…" Sasuke said with a chuckle.

"Hey Naruto…I know you stink but now's not the best time for a bath!" Tenten yelled down at the boy.

"Hahahahaha!" Temari laughed venomously at the blonde. "Stupid."

"Oh shut up!" Naruto yelled up angrily at them.

"Are you okay Naruto-kun?" a soft voice called down to him. The boy's face flushed red.

"Y-yeah…" he scratched the back of his head. "I'm fine…" Hinata slowly walked down the incline to Naruto and, with a smile, offered him a helping hand. Naruto's face exploded into a scarlet blush, which was, luckily for him, concealed by the darkness of the tunnels. "Th-thanks…" The blonde boy said.

"N-No problem Naruto-kun…" She said. Naruto grabbed her hand and she helped him out of the water. When he was out, their eyes met and they stood there staring for a minute.

"Hey!" Sakura yelled. "What's going on down there?"

"ACK!" Naruto and Hinata both snapped back into reality at the same time. "Uhh…" Naruto stammered trying to find something to say while Hinata just blushed.

After Naruto and Hinata had gotten back up the slope and Naruto put on some fresh clothes, in the privacy of a side tunnel, the group continued. Naruto's mind kept wandering back to the moment where his eyes met the eyes of the Hyuuga girl.

Naruto had seldom blushed in his life. Not even in front of Sakura. It was something new to him.

_"What was up with that?"_ Naruto thought to himself.

**"Wow…kid…you're a fucking retard…"**

_"WHAAT!" _Naruto yelled at the beast inside him. _"How many times do I have to tell you…SOME thoughts are private!"_

**"Not with me here they aren't."** The fox said. **"But all humor aside…" **the fox continued. **"Are you really that dense?"**

_"Maybe…"_

**"God…if I wasn't stuck inside you I'd smack you good sir." **The fox sighed. **"Tell me…are you being dense on purpose?"**

_"…No?"_ The boy said.

**"Ugh…"**

_"Hey…Kyubi…" _Naruto said. _"I think I may like Hina-chan…"_

**"HALLELUJA!" **Kyubi cried so loud it made Naruto's head hurt. **"There just may be a god after all…"** The fox contemplated what he just said. **"Wait…no there's not…never mind…"**

_"What a da' fuck?"_ Naruto asked of the fox

**"Nothing kid…just…yeah. Good for you."** The fox said with a sigh.

_"But…I don't know if she likes me…"_ The fox was completely silent. Then Naruto felt as if the demon inside of him just smacked itself in the face.

**"Kid…"**

_"Eh?"_

**"I've decided. As soon as I get out of this scrawny body of yours, I'm going to kick your ass for being so dense."**

"Whatever…" Naruto accidentally said aloud.

"What is it Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked with a slight smile.

"EH?" He exclaimed surprised. "N-Nothing…"

"Keep it quiet back there you two…we're not outta the woods…err…cave…yet." Kakashi said.

The company of ninja continued along the narrow passageways of the cave. Sasuke had point followed by Kaoshi, Sakura, Tenten, Hinata, Lee, Shikamaru, Temari, Kakashi, and finally Naruto. Sakura, seeing that Sasuke was a good twenty yards in front of the group decided to use this opportunity to try and win Sasuke's heart…again. Old habits die hard. She trotted up to the Uchiha.

"Hi Sasuke-kun." She said with a smile. Sasuke looked down at the smiling girl. After a moment he opened his mouth. What came out has been on the minds of every Naruto fan since the manga first appeared in Shonen Jump…

"You're worthless." Sakura, stunned, stopped dead in her tracks. The Shinobi accompanying them, as if totally prepared for this, just walked around her. When she was nearly thirty yards back, Hinata decided to speak up.

"Don't you think we should do something?"

"Fine." Kaoshi said biting his thumb. "Kichiyose no jutsu…" he said with a sigh. A small green dragon with a saddle on its back appeared. "There should be a girl who's in total mental shock a little ways back. Would you mind getting her for me? Thanks."

They started back on their merry way. Suddenly Kaoshi and Kakashi tensed up. They started looking back and forth jumping at everything.

"What's wrong with them?" Tenten asked Temari.

"Who knows? I sure as hell don't car---" Just before she could finish her sentence. A figure revealed itself a little ways ahead of them. The figure was dressed in a black robe nearly touching the ground with red flames on it and a wide straw hat. The figure slowly walked towards the group. As he did so he slowly removed his hat revealing hellish red eyes.

"Hello friends" the familiar voice echoed through the caves. "I believe you have something for me."

Sasuke's body started to tremble but not with fear, for on his face was a look of pure ecstasy and excitement.

"Hello…Onee-san" He said with a wild grin. The author then realized that Onee-san means older sister and commited seppuku and all were happy.


	18. Ch: 22 Fishy OniiChan is mean

Yeah, so it's been a while right? I've been busy. Packing for college, preparing for college, and now college.

And World of Warcraft certainly isn't helping…right? Anyways…now for something totally random…GUARD THE ASPRIN AS IT SHALL ONE DAY RISE UP AND DEFEAT THE EVIL OVERLORD BOBOLUSHZUDOOKEYMONSAN!!!

This chapter is dedicated to the doods and doodettes in the NaruHina FC on for inspiring me to work on this fic again.

-Thank you.

Chapter 22:

"I've told you SEVERAL times not to call me that…"

"Well, how many men paint their nails? Purple of all colors…" Sasuke said chuckling. The others couldn't help but agree. "Hehe, It looks like I'll be able to get my revenge…FINALLY!!!" Sasuke's face was wild with excitement. "After all these years…brother…this will be ended."

"I'm sorry Sasuke. I'm not here for you, it is actually very unfortunate that you'd be here…" Itachi said. "I'm here for a package." He said eyeing Kakashi. "Isn't that right…Kakashi-san?" Kakashi held his bag with one hand.

"There are ten of us Itachi." Kakashi said shakily. "Even you couldn't take on ten of us by yourself.

"You forget Kakashi-san…I killed my whole clan…save one…in a single night," he said with absolutely no voice inflection. "And who said I was alone?"

"Kisame too then?"

"Absolutely." The fish-like man said with a smile. "And don't forget Samehada!" He said twirling his blade around as he stepped out behind the party.

"Would it be easier to double team Kisame first…then go after Itachi?" Kaoshi suggested.

"Whatever way is up to you…but I doubt that the kids can handle Itachi by themselves…"

"What to do…"

"How about…"

"RRAAAGGGHHH!!!!" a very loud scream interrupted them. They turned in time to see Sasuke charging Itachi, chidori flowing behind him. "It's time to die brother!" He yelled again with a wild grin. "I'll destroy you for all the pain you've caused me!" He thrust the chidori at Itachi who instead of dodging, put out his hand and merely stopped the chidori with the palm of his hand. "What the--?"

"You still lack the essential thing brother…"

"Quit preaching to me!" He yelled in anger. "FLOWING CHIDORI!!!" Itachi let go and delivered a spin kick to Sasuke's face. "Urrggh!!" He shook his hand a little.

"Congratulations Sasuke…" He said mockingly. "You've managed to singe the skin on my palm."

"You…BASTARD!!!" Sasuke yelled charging his brother again. "CHIKURODORI!!!" The black chidori exploded out of Sasuke's hand. The curse seal had sprung up without him even noticing, something that hadn't happened in a while.

"Wuh oh…" Kaoshi said annoyed. "What are we gonna do with him?"

"Tie him to a horse and drag him all around town." Kakashi said.

"I'll back up Sasuke…" Kaoshi said with a sigh. He did NOT want to get involved with Itachi. He was one of the most powerful ninja alive. "Fuck." He said.

"Can you and Sasuke beat him?"

"…Five and five?"

"Deal. I got Lee."

"Naruto."

"Ten Ten."

"Shikamaru."

"Temari."

"Hinata."

"Sakura."

Each went to their respective Jounin. Lee, Ten Ten, Temari, and Sakura went to Kakashi. _LOL perv Kakashi picked all the girls lawlawlawl._ Naruto, Shikamaru, and Hinata went to Kaoshi.

"You guys ready?" Kakashi said turning to his team.

"HAI!" they all said. Except Temari who just said

"Whatever." A second after the rest.

"Are you sure you can do this?" Kisame chuckled.

"Yup." Kakashi said with a smile.

"You're confident…even though you obviously stand no chance." He said as his smile changed into a frown. "I don't like that." Kisame pointed Samehada at them, "It's time do die bitches."

"Alright, here's the plan…" Kakashi said. "Temari, Ten Ten, you two will attack him from a distance, and Ten Ten, once you run out of ranged weapons go in and just distract him so Lee can get some solid hits in. Sakura, you'll heal whatever wounds the team needs healed and if he happens to get too close…give him a punch for me."

"WHAT ABOUT YOU?!" Sakura yelled angrily.

"Don't worry, I'll be right here. I'll be right there next to you, kicking ass." Kakashi said with a hidden smile.

"You'd better…" Sakura said stomping off.

"Haha…kids…" Kakashi said as he moved his headband. "Now…LET'S DO THIS!" He yelled as the Konoha shinobi faced off against their strongest foe yet. Lee knelt down taking off his leg weights. There was a small earthquake as the two weights hit the ground.

"Dammit Lee!" Ten Ten yelled. "When did they get heavier?!"

"About four months ago." Lee said smiling. "Gai-sensei said 50 kilos was too light. Now I'm at 100 kilos per leg." (For all you retards…that's 220 pounds per leg)

"WHAT?!" Ten Ten Yelled. But she didn't have time to say anything else seeing as Lee tackled her to knock her out of a swing of Samehada.

"You see," Kisame said, "I'm not going to allow that petty banter. It's insulting that you're taking me so lightly. So I'd appreciate it if you'd shut the fuck up and fight me."

"Damn." Temari said with a chuckle. "Someone certainly is sure of himself."

"Cheh…" Kisame said eying the girl. "You've gotta big mouth. I don't like that either."

"You've got an ugly face, and I don't like that." Temari mused.

"Well at least I have a face." He said as he swung Samehada at her face with blinding speed. Kisame suddenly disappeared, dodging Sakura's punch at his face which instead of his face, connected with the ground causing the it to rip apart sending Temari and Little Miss I Like to Punch Really Hard flying back into a wall.

"Cheh…" Kisame scoffed. "That punch could hurt…I should probably avoid thaaaaAARRRRGG!!" Was how Kisame said hello to the foot in his face. He said a heartfelt goodbye to Lee's foot as he skid across the ground for a few feet.

"As you said," Lee said confidently. "I shall not allow for your petty banter, for it is rude. You obviously are underestimating us, which could be a fatal mistake. Please take us more seriously."

"Cheh…" Kisame said as he stood up. "You know what?" Kisame said angrily, "I don't like any of you."

_"Dammit…" _Kakashi thought to himself. _"Absolutely no openings." _ He cursed his luck. _"If the we don't open him up soon, I won't be able to surprise him with the Raikiri and kill him in one hit. And if that doesn't happen…who knows what will…"_

"RAAAHH!!!" Lee charged Kisame. Lee threw a series of punches and kicks and quickly disengaged after all of them were blocked. "Don't touch his sword." Lee said. "It absorbs chakra."

"Well that's lovely." Temari said. "Well how about this?" She said opening her giant fan. "KAGEKAZE NO JUTSU!!" Black wind blasted from the fan towards Kisame.

The fishlike man cut through the ebony gale with ease.

"Cheh…" Kisame said, "You're as weak as you are annoying"

"If they're really that weak…" Kakashi mused, "Then why are they still alive?"

"Luck?" Kisame asked with a shrug.

"If it is indeed luck," Lee said. "Then you shall die by that luck."

"And if it's not…" Temari said. "You're still fucked."

"Cheh…" Kisame said as he shouldered Samehada. "We'll see about that…now won't we?"

"And if we're so annoying…"

"Shut up Sakura," Kakashi interrupted. "You ARE annoying"

Insert brief clip of everyone, including Kisame, laughing while Sakura wallows in her worthlessness.

"Now that we've all had a good laugh, let's get back to fighting. Shall we?" Kisame said as he rubbed a tear from his eye.

"Indeed." Lee said. "I'm getting tired of the author trying to avoid writing another fight scene." In response to this, the author jumps out from behind a rock.

"I'm not avoiding it… I just…"

**TONK** was the sound the kunai made as it lodged itself cleanly between the eyes of the author. **GWUTHUMP**¸ was the sound his lifeless body made as it hit the ground. **KZZORT** was the sound that the teleporter made as the new author teleported in from Ohio.

"Wow this job is getting dangerous!" The new author said. "Let's get back to fighting!"

As if an author didn't appear, die, and get replaced, the fight resumed. Lee did a back-handspring back towards the cave wall. Using his legs like a spring, he jumped off the wall, flinging himself towards Kisame. Tenten jumped back, taking a scroll out of one of her pouches, and started summoning various weapons to throw at the fishy-ninja. Temari started swinging her giant fan sending slicing winds at fishy-onii-chan (lol). Sakura darted swiftly towards Kisame, brandishing nothing but her fists. Kakashi, took a more defensive position, throwing a few kunai at Kisame, gauging his reaction.

Kisame assessed his situation. He had two ninja, kunai, slicing winds, and various other things flying at him. He smiled.

"Too easy." He said with a smirk. He used Samehada as a shield against the wind, picked every projectile out of the air with just his right hand, kicked Sakura in the face as she was about to punch him, and rammed Lee's head into the ground.

Kakashi looked in shock as the attack just utterly failed. His teammates were battered and bloody…and the battle had only just started.

"So Kakashi." Kisame retorted. "Who's gonna be the first one to die?"

Kakashi looked at him right in the face, smiled, and said…

"You."

_LAWLAWLAWL KAKASHIBADASS!!! LAWLAWLAWL_

_I know this chapter was short, but I'm back…hopefully. I'll try to find time at least every other day to write…thanks._

_-ME_


	19. Ch:23 Land in Lightning

Sorry about not writing again for so long. Life's been hectic as usual, between college, girls, and my own affairs; I haven't had much time to myself, let alone to write.

This is turning out to be my longest chapter ever…I'm sorry if it's not well written, I haven't really written anything in a while so I may have lost what little writing mojo that I had.

Chapter 23: Land in Lightning

"How am I gonna be the first to die?" Kisame chuckled. Your team is already worthless. Kisame kicked Lee's unmoving body, "See?" Lee's body rolled a few feet and poofed away, it was a Kage Bunshin. "What?!" Kisame yelled in surprise.

"NOW!" Kakashi yelled.

"KONOHA SENPU!!" (Or however it's spelled!!) Yelled Lee as he released the third gate and flung his leg at Kisame. He managed to bring Samehada up in time to block the kick, but was sent flying back due to the sheer force, slamming him into a wall. Lee continued his assault with a second kick, which Kisame blocked again, but this time he was ready. He grabbed Lee's leg and threw him up into the ceiling. Lee, who did not foresee this turn of events, had no choice but to cough up blood and fall helplessly to the ground. Kisame jumped up and delivered a finishing kick to Lee's back, slamming him into the cave floor.

Before Kisame could land on the ground, Sakura appeared beneath him, and swung a devastating punch at the chest of the Fish-like man. Kisame managed to block with Samehada yet again, but the girl's blow sent him flying into the ceiling.

"RAAHH!!" Sakura screamed as she went to deliver the finishing blow to the Akatsuki member. (Wow, when I typed in Akatsuki, it wanted to change it to either Alaska or Kawasaki, just thought you'd want to know.) Her punch landed on his face, however to her dismay, it was only a water clone. The real Kisame appeared below her and swung his mighty sword at the helpless girl. Sakura pivoted and punched the sword with all her might, releasing all of her chakra into the blow. She flew back into the wall and made a small depression in it. Her body slumped over into unconsciousness.

A slicing gale headed towards Kisame's back. The fish man turned around and once again used Samehada as a shield. Behind this deadly wind was a girl named Temari who swung her heavy fan at Kisame's sword.

"That won't work girly!" Kisame yelled as he swung Samehada to meet the fan. Temari laughed. "What?!"

"Mission accomplished." She said as several of Ten-ten's kunai flew over her shoulder. Temari's fan hit the back of a single kunai, driving it deep into Samehada. The massive sword exploded into thousands of small glimmering shards, which peppered Temari like she was bland mashed potatoes. She got a large chunk of Samehada lodged in her stomach.

Ten-ten rushed to Temari.

"Are you okay?!" It was a ridiculous question, I mean seriously, the girl just got a huge chunk of shrapnel lodged in her stomach, wtf kind of question is that?

"I'm okay for now," Temari coughed, "Luckily, it missed my vitals, but I WILL bleed to death if we take too long."

"I'll just…" Ten-ten started to turn around only to be kicked in the face by an enraged Kisame, still brandishing what remained of his beloved sword.

"You stupid BITCHES!!" He yelled wildly, "You were aiming at Samehada the WHOLE time!! And what makes it worse is I FELL for it! I'll kill you!" He lifted up his foot to stomp down on the large piece of shrapnel jutting from Temari's stomach.

"I don't think so!" Kakashi yelled as he appeared between the two, raikiri charged. Kisame choked in surprise as Kakashi's hand went through his chest. "What did you forget about me?" Kisame smiled.

"You missed." He said as he slammed the remnants of Samehada down on Kakashi's left shoulder, breaking the collarbone and draining his chakra. Kakashi collapsed from exhaustion and the pain of having his chakra ripped from him.

Ten-ten hurried to the jounin.

"Kakashi-sensei!!"

"Damn…" Kakashi cursed as blood spilled from his open wound.

"What happened?! What did you miss?! I saw your hand go right through him!"

"His heart, and his spine." Kakashi coughed. "I was aiming for his heart, luckily, if he dodged that I would have split his spine. But he managed to dodge so perfectly that my attack went right in between them."

"Still….got…my…lung……" Kisame wheezed as he fell to the ground. "You….bitch….." Those were the words he chose to whisper with his final breath.

Itachi looked over while he parried one of Naruto's formless attacks.

"Mm…this is unexpected." The Uchiha sighed in contemplation as he dodged numerous attacks. "I suppose it would be wise to report back for new orders…"

"LIKE HELL YOU WILL ITACHI!" Sasuke yelled as he swung at his brother.

"You think you can stop me as you are now?" Itachi asked quietly as he grabbed his younger brothers arm and proceeded to break it. Sasuke screamed in pain. "Keep this in mind brother, the reason I'm not killing you is not because I can't, but because I choose not to." Itachi disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

"SHIT!" Sasuke yelled as he punched the ground with his good arm.

Kaoshi looked back at the rest of his teammates.

"Ahhh hell…" He said when se saw the shape of his allies. "Okay everyone listen up! We've got five wounded! We're gonna need to work fast here! I can handle broken bones and minor cuts. Do any of you have any medical experience at all?"

"Sakura's our only med Nin…and she's kinda…not…conscious." Naruto said pointing at Sakura's limp body.

"Dammit Temari…" Shikamaru said looking at the blood-covered body of the sand ninja.

"Sorry Shika…" She said with a cough. "Looks like I got hit worse than I thought…"

"What am I gonna do with you?"

"Sell me to the highest bidder?" Shikamaru chuckled.

"Wouldn't get much for ya now, would I?"

"Probably not…" she said with a feigned smile. Shikamaru walked over to her and put his hand on her head.

"You did good."

"Thanks…" She said with a smile. "Hey…Shika…"

"Yeah?"

"If I don't make it…" She reached out a bloody hand and put it on his face. Shikamaru smiled and gently grasped her hand. Temari suddenly pulled Shikamaru's face towards hers and their lips met. After a second Temari pulled away and looked at Shikamaru with reddened cheeks. "…I just wanted you to know…and saying it just isn't my style…"

"I know," Shikamaru said as he pulled Temari's face towards his.

"Shika…" the blushing girl said as Shikamaru pulled away.

"I just thought you should know, and to say it would be troublesome."

"Thank you…" Temari said as she went unconscious. Shikamaru sat with Temari in his arms for a moment, thinking.

"Ahh shiz…" Kaoshi said. "We're still about an hour's walk from the Village…"

"How fast can you get there?" Shikamaru asked.

"Me?" Kaoshi thought for a second. "From here, about seven minutes."

"Here's the plan," Shikamaru said. "Take Temari. She's got a huge piece of shrapnel in her gut and is already unconscious from blood loss. If we don't act fast she'll die. The rest of us will carry the others as far as we can. You come back after dropping Temari off at the hospital, take Kakashi next, he's got minor blood loss, broken collarbone, exhaustion, and no chakra." Kaoshi smiled.

"Good plan," Kaoshi ran over to Temari and carefully picked her up. "Well, I'll be going."

"I'm counting on you." Shikamaru said. Kaoshi ran off into the shadows.

"Alright," Shikamaru continued. "Listen up." He pointed to Kakashi. "Our priority is Kakashi, he's in the worst shape out of the remaining four. Hinata, prepare a splint for Sasuke." She nodded and started working right away. "Next comes Lee. He suffered some head injuries; so if he wakes us, don't let him walk. Sakura probably has broken ribs and a broken hand and possible back injuries. If she wakes up and can walk, let her." He reached into his supply pouch. "Let's get to work."

Twenty minutes had passed. After bandaging up their comrades, they set out. In the meantime, Sakura had regained consciousness and was able to walk by herself, allowing Hinata and Ten-ten to care for Lee.

Kaoshi was nowhere in sight, but in his stead a group of several med ninjas from the Cloud Village arrived on the scene to relieve the party. After giving basic medical treatment to the wounded, they rushed to the hospital along with Ten-ten and Shikamaru.

"Ugh…" Naruto complained as he walked along the trail to the Village. They had exited the cave and were now in a dense forest covered in fog "That was sure troublesome…" He waved his arms around wildly as if trying to break of the fog. "And this fog sure as hell isn't helping…"

"You're starting to sound like Shikamaru-kun, Naruto-kun." Hinata said with a small laugh.

"Ehh?!" Naruto said with dismay. "Though I don't know whether to take that as a compliment or not…" they shared a short laugh. "Yeah Shikamaru is something though."

"Yes, he is."

"He can keep his cool even in situations like that." Naruto sighed. "If it was anyone else giving orders then, I'd be concerned that they were only to save the girl. But we all know he's not like that." Naruto sighed. "Sometimes I wish I could be more like him…"

"I don't think so…" Hinata said shyly. "I like you the way you are." After the sudden realization of what she just said she turned bright red. "I mean…uh…umm…" Naruto looked at her and smiled.

"Thanks Hina-chan." Hinata blushed even more. After a short awkward silence, she decided to try and change the topic.

"S-So Naruto…" the blushing girl said shyly, "Why didn't you go on ahead with the others?"

"Meh, I wasn't really in the mood for running…" Naruto said lazily. "The med team arrived and they said everything would be fine. I figure that there's nothing I can do to help so I figure I'd just get in the way." Hinata smiled.

_"He's matured…"_ she thought to herself.

"How about you Hinata?" Naruto asked. "Why didn't you go on ahead?"

"W-well…" she said with a blush. "When the med team arrived, I was so relieved that I just fell over… And the med ninja said I shouldn't run for a while…just to be safe."

"Well I guess it's good I decided not to go on ahead." Naruto said with a smile.

"W-why?" Hinata said with a blush.

"Cause I like hanging out with you Hina-chan." Hinata's face turned bright red. "Besides, it wouldn't be very manly of me to let a pretty girl like you walk around by yourself in an unfamiliar place."

"EH?!" Hinata's reddened even more. "I-I-I d-d-don't kn-know about p-p-p-pretty…" she said stuttering over every word.

"Sure you are!" Naruto pronounced very loudly. "At least I think so."

"B-b-but s-s-surely y-you think that T-Temari-san, T-T-Ten-ten-san, and S-Sakura-san are more attractive."

"Mm," Naruto thought for a minute. "Temari's too scary to be attractive…Ten-ten's cute, but not really my type…"

"What about Sakura…" Hinata said suddenly depressed, "You like her right…?"

"Mm…" Naruto put his finger on his chin in contemplation. "I haven't really thought about that in a while." He sighed. "I mean Sakura's nice…but she's also a very angry person. Not to mention she's Sasuke-crazed. Even if she wasn't, I'd have to say I want a more subtle girl. One who doesn't jump all over you when you're around. Someone…cute, who will listen to every word I have to say, no matter how silly, who will blush when I put my arm around her…" He looked over at Hinata, whose face was bright red as she intently listened to what he was saying. Something clicked inside Naruto.

_Hinata's the girl for me._ With this sudden realization he stopped walking. After a second of mustering up his courage he decided that he was going to do it. He was going to ask Hinata to go out with him.

"Hey, Hina-chan…" He said with a serious face. Hinata looked at him puzzled. "Would you like to…" He was stopped short by a girl's scream. (Lol, aren't I so evil? Don't worry; it's to make the love plot more interesting)

"HEELLLPP!!!" Naruto instinctively lost his train of thought.

"What the…?" Another scream came shortly after.

"PLEASE HELLPP!!"

"Hina-chan," Naruto looked at her with a serious face.

"Go." She said with a smile. "I'll be fine." Naruto flashed her his cheek-to-cheek smile.

"I'll be back." He ran off. "Meet you there!"

"I'll be waiting." She whispered. With that he disappeared into the fog.

Naruto rushed towards the source of the scream. He jumped from tree to tree hoping for another hint. He noticed a small clearing and stopped on a tree branch to check it out. What he saw didn't surprise him much; there was a group of about ten thugs surrounding a single girl. It was a classic scenario; so classic it almost made Naruto sick. The blonde sighed and put on his hero face.

"Well then," One thug said to another, "Shall we?"

"Let's"

"Not so fast!" Naruto said, appearing in the center of the circle.

"What are you DOING?!" Yelled on of the thugs.

"What does it look like, idiot…?" Naruto said puffing out his chest. "I'm saving this girl." The girl looked up at Naruto with wide eyes. He judged that she was close to his age, maybe a little younger. She had strawberry blonde hair that came down just past her neck and green eyes. "Don't you worry miss, I'll protect you." Naruto said with a smile.

"Don't underestimate us you bastard!" One said as he charged Naruto, brandishing a dull katana. The slash cut right through Naruto's head, causing the shadow clone to poof away. "W-What are you?!"

"What…can't you tell?" Naruto asked. He then realized that his headband was not on. "Ohh, right. Hold on a second." He reached into his pouch and put on his forehead protector. "I'm a ninja!"

"You may be a ninja…" One said. "BUT THERES STILL 10 of us!"

"TAJUU KAGE BUNSHIN NO JUTSU!" The clearing filled up with 100 Naruto's. The real Naruto pointed and said, "Go to town boys." After about four seconds the last thug lost consciousness. Naruto looked at the girl. "There ya go miss." Naruto started to walk off.

"Wait…!" The girl said as she reached out to Naruto. "Is there anything I can do…"

"Nah." Naruto said putting on his smile. "I'm a ninja, I'm just doing what I was born to do."

"Can I at least get your name…?" Naruto thought for a second.

"Sure, why not. I'm Naruto."

"I'm Kanako." She stood up and bowed. "Nice to meet you Naruto-sama."

"Uh, yeah." He said scratching his head. "Nice to meet you." Naruto awkwardly bowed. "Sorry, but there's someone waiting for me."

"Goodbye then." She said with a smile.

"Bye." Naruto poofed away in a cloud of smoke. "What an odd girl…didn't seem to be bothered at all that she was in that situation…" He shrugged it off and continued towards the village.

After running for about 10 minutes Naruto realized he was being followed. His pursuer wasn't gaining on him or falling behind. Naruto, being the smart guy he was, stopped and a few seconds later, a ninja appeared before him.

"Naruto-sama…?" The ninja asked.

"What do you want with me?" Naruto asked, crossing his arms.

"I've been sent to bring you to your comrades."

"Well that certainly makes things easier…" Naruto said scratching his head. "To be honest I was completely lost."

"I noticed…" the ninja said as a bead of sweat rolled down his face. "You were running around me in a complete circle…"

"Oh…" Naruto said embarrassed. "Uhh. Then…lead me…?"

"Right…"

After an awkwardly silent run to the village, Naruto met up with Hinata, Ten-ten, and Sasuke in the lounge of the ambassador's quarters. The Ambassador's Quarters were basically an upscale apartment building with ten rooms surrounding a massive lounge area. Each room was equipped with everything one could need from a bathroom to a weight room.

"So, how's everyone doing?" Naruto asked.

"Not great." Ten-ten said. "They managed to save Temari, but right now she's asleep and in critical condition. Kakashi-sensei is in a similar state, critical condition and asleep. Lee had a major concussion and is also asleep. Sakura has three broken ribs, most of the bones in her hand are shattered, and she bruised her spine. She's conscious right now, but no visitors are allowed." Ten-ten sighed. "We'd done so well up until this point too…"

"Well we can't let that stop us." Naruto said smiling. "No matter what gets in your way, you just gotta keep pushing forward. That's all we can do, right?"

"You're damn right!" Kaoshi said as he strolled into the room. "Well put Naruto. Especially cause I just heard from the doctors that everyone should make a full recovery."

"That's great!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Now comes the hard part." Kaoshi sighed. "It's hard cause it doesn't involve fighting which has a clear outcome. Stupid negotiations…"

"Ahh but these negotiations are what bring peace Kaoshi-kun."

"Yondaime Raikage-sama…" Kaoshi said looking at the middle-aged man standing at the entrance.

"I'm glad to see you're back from your mission, Kaoshi." He said with a chuckle. "I heard you were successful, though there were some bad injuries. Am I correct?"

"Yes Raikage-sama." Kaoshi said standing at attention.

"This is indeed unfortunate, but we are doing all that we can to help those who were injured." He looked towards the four Konoha ninja. "I'm glad to have all of you here. Welcome to the Village Hidden in the Clouds. I hope you enjoy your stay."

"Hey! Ojii-chan!" Naruto yelled.

"Naruto!" Ten-ten yelled as she hit him on the head. "Show some respect!" The Raikage laughed.

"Naruto is it?"

"That's right!" Naruto said proudly. "Uzumaki Naruto! I'm gonna be the Rokudaime Hokage!"

"Really now?" The Raikage laughed again. "You remind me of Kaoshi when he was young." He scratched his head. "But if what you say is true, I'm glad to have met you. I hope I make a good impression." He said with a smile.

"Anyways, Ojii-chan." Naruto said. "Are there any good ramen stands around here?" Naruto's stomach grumbled. "I haven't had any real ramen in weeks!"

"Not that I know of Rokudaime-sama." He thought for a second. "Perhaps my daughter would know better." He turned around and called out, "Kanako-chan! Could you please come inside?"

"Kana…ko?" Naruto said puzzled. A few seconds later, a young girl walked in. She had strawberry blonde hair and green eyes.

"Naruto-sama!!" she yelled excitedly as she rushed over and grabbed his arm. "You're one of the diplomats from Konoha?! That's so cool!"

"Oh my…" The Raikage said. "You two know each other?"

"Yes!" Kanako said happily. "He's the one I told you about! The one who rescued me!"

"Really now?" The Raikage said slightly amused.

"Yeah…I saved her from some thugs just before I came here." Naruto said awkwardly.

"Yup, and I've decided."

"On what?" The Raikage and Naruto asked at the same time.

"I'm gonna marry you!"

"…Excuse me?" Naruto said as Hinata feinted.


	20. Ch:24 Like Hell I Will I fixed typos

Okay. I appreciate comments…but I'd like to ask everyone to refrain from 1-word comments. Thank you.

I'm just putting this out there cause yeah. I have no plan for this chapter whatsoever. I'm just winging it.

I made a nasty typo, and I fixed it lol.

Chapter 24: Like hell I will

"E-Excuse me?" Naruto said completely dumbfounded.

"I want to marry you!" Kanako said with a smile. Without a second's thought or hesitation Naruto replied with a simple,

"NO!" Naruto put on his angry pouting face. "Besides, there are too many things I haven't done yet. Like…" Naruto thought for several seconds but nothing came to mind. "…Uhh…THINGS!" He proclaimed very proudly.

"Well then I'll just settle for being your girlfriend!" Kanako said happily. "Now gimme a kiss!" Right as she was about to kiss him, Naruto's shadow clone disappeared. "What the?" Kanako asked puzzled. "Where'd you go honey?"

"I'm outside!" Another shadow clone yelled from outside. "Catch me if ya can!"

"Ooh, you tease!" Kanako said as she ran out the door after the shadow clone. After several seconds the real Naruto dropped down from the ceiling.

"Okay, I'm officially traumatized." Naruto said with a sigh. "I'm gonna lock myself in my room for a few hours…"

"Let's have a party in Naruto's room!" Tenten suggested.

"Why?" Both Naruto and Sasuke asked at the same time. They looked at each other and smirked.

"You guys are no fun." Tenten complained.

"I'm not supposed to be fun." Sasuke stated. "I'm supposed to be the cold, handsome, mysterious character who's out for revenge that leaves all the girls screaming while all the men hate me." There was a long silence.

"Annnyyywwwaayyysss…" Naruto said. "I'm going to my room before that psycho girl realizes that's not the real me." He turned and waved as he exited.

A few hours had passed and Naruto decided to utilize the exercise equipment. After about 20 minutes a soft knock came at the door. Naruto walked up to the door and looked through the peephole to make sure it wasn't his stalker.

"Oh, Hina-chan." Naruto opened the door and smiled at the girl standing there. "Come on in." He said with a smile. Hinata prudently stepped into the room. She was looking around, obviously very uncomfortable, as if she expected a dozen paparazzi to appear from nowhere and take pictures of her and Naruto alone in a room. Naruto beckoned Hinata to a table where she sat herself down. She did it. She and Naruto were alone in a room. Despite this accomplishment, she was unsure of what to do after she had gotten into that room. "Soooo wassup?"

"N-Not much Naruto-kun." She said with an awkward smile, she desperately tried to think of something to talk about. She landed on the only topic he might find interesting. "You missed the end of our meeting and I thought I should fill you in…" Her voice trailed off as Naruto sighed. "If you don't want me to…"

"No, it's not that Hina-chan…" He slid down in his chair. "It's just that when you talked about the meeting, it made me think of that crazy girl."

"What are you going to do about that…?" Hinata asked quietly. "Surely you won't…"

"Course not!" Naruto exclaimed. "No way I'd go for a girl like that." Hinata sighed with relief. "Hmm?" Naruto questioned, noticing the sigh. "What's wrong?"

"N-Nothing!" She said much too defensively. Naruto however, didn't pick up on it.

"Oh, kay." He said scratching the back of his head. "Uhh…" Naruto didn't know what to do, he'd never really had a girl in his room before. He had had Sakura come over and drag him out of bed in the past, but he'd never have to entertain her. "You…uh…want some tea?"

"That'd be nice." Hinata said with her shy smile. "But I don't want to be a bother…"

"No bother at all!" Naruto said with feigned excitement. "I'll just make some tea, then you can tell me all about that meeting!"

"F-Fun times…" Hinata said trying to mimic Naruto's enthusiasm. She soon regretted what she said as both of them realized what she said. "Umm…" This conversation was just incredibly awkward.

"So…what kind of tea do you like…?" Naruto asked. "Green or…" He looked at the selection that was provided in the cabinet. There were about ten boxes of green tea lined up inside. "…Green it is." He said with a sigh. He went to put some water on the stove. He looked at the strange contraption in front of him. "What…is this rumpus?" It certainly wasn't a type of stove he'd ever seen before. There were strange illuminated green numbers and a variety of circles, both large and small. "Ummm…" Naruto was distressed, he wanted to impress his guest, who happened to be Hinata, the girl he liked. However, he was failing to impress anyone at this rate.

"Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked politely.

"I'll have it ready in…"

"Why don't we just forget the tea?"

"O…okay…" Naruto had failed. He could overcome overwhelming odds on the battlefield but this strange glowing contraption had defeated him. What a world. "Anyways…" Naruto said desperately trying to change the topic. "What about this meeting?"

"Right," Hinata said with a smile. "Well since these negotiations are going to take a while, we're going to each be assigned Cloud jounin."

"Why…?" Naruto asked.

"To guide and train us."

"Wait…how long are these negotiations going to take…?"

"They predicted at least two years, if everything goes smoothly." Naruto's jaw dropped.

"You mean…I have two years before I have anything interesting happen?"

"That's not true." Hinata explained. "You'll be getting trained…I know how you like that." Naruto nodded with a sigh. "And I hear the Chuunin exams will be hosted here in two years."

"REALLY?!" Naruto screamed with delight causing Hinata to shy away a little.

"Y-yes…"

"AWESOME!" Naruto yelled again. "This time I'll become a Chuunin for sure!" He pumped his fists in the air. Hinata smiled at him, he may have grown up some, but he was still a little kid on the inside. He stood up and walked over to Hinata. "Just you wait! I'm gonna kick some major ass!" He started flailing around like he was in combat. In doing so he accidentally kicked the chair Hinata was on causing it to tip over with Hinata still on it. Utilizing his ninja-like reaction time Naruto turned to save Hinata, only to have his legs knocked out by the chair. Naruto closed his eyes and waited for the cold floor to greet his face. However, Naruto's face landed on something soft. He heard a small "meep" noise. He hoisted himself up to figure out what happened. Naruto had managed to land in the most classic anime position EVER. Hinata was on her back and Naruto had his hands on either side of Hinata's head. It was the classic "Oh no I accidentally fell on you and if anyone were to walk into the room right now we'd be screwed because it looks like we were about to do something dirty" position. Now the only thing missing was… (Okay that was like the longest paragraph ever.)

"Oi Naruto!" Kaoshi said as he kicked open the door. "Wassup?!" Bingo. Kaoshi looked down and saw the pair. He stood there for several seconds, just blinking. Kaoshi slowly started to smile. "I see." Kaoshi placed his hand on his chin. "I approve. Soooo should I come back later or…?"

After suddenly realizing what had just happened, both Naruto and Hinata flew to their feet.

"I-I-I-I-I-I-It's not like that!!!!" Both of them yelled, blushing immensely.

"It's okay, I understand that you're at that age."

"IT'SNOTLIKETHATPLEASELETMEEXPLAINWHATHAPPENED!!" Naruto yelled.

A few minutes later everything had been cleared up.

"But that's so much more boring…" Kaoshi complained…

"BUT THAT'S HOW IT IS!" Naruto yelled.

"Sheesh, chill out." Kaoshi said with a sigh.

"Ow…" Hinata said suddenly realizing her chest hurt.

"What's wrong Hina-chan?" Naruto asked, suddenly calm.

"My…ummm…" she started blushing even more.

"What?"

"My…ummm…" She had to do this without actually saying it. She placed her hand over her breast. "…Hurts…" she said blushing.

Naruto's face turned bright red as he realized what the soft thing he landed on was. A small trickle of blood started to run from his nose.

"NARUTO YOU SLY DOG!!" Kaoshi yelled slapping Naruto on the back.

"NO! I DIDN'T MEAN TO…!" He looked at Hinata who drew away from him. "GOMENESAI!!" He yelled. "GOMENGOMENGOMENGOMENGOMENGOMEN!!"

"I-I-It's o-okay N-Naruto-kun…" She said blushing. "You didn't mean to…"

"Doesn't change the fact that he enjoyed it." Kaoshi said. With a smile he added. "If he didn't my suspicions about him being gay are true." Naruto's I'm-not-gay instincts kicked in.

"Of course I did!" He then realized what he just said. "UMMM, UHHH, KAOSHI YOU BASTARD!" Kaoshi just laughed. Hinata's face was bright red. She didn't know whether or not to be complimented or feel violated. "HINA-CHAN I'M SO SORRY I DIDN'T MEAN TO…HE JUST…AUUUGGHH!!" Naruto couldn't take it anymore. He rushed to the window and jumped out.

"Naruto-kun!" Hinata said surprisingly without stuttering.

"Hehe, don't be mad at him Hinata-chan." Kaoshi said as he wiped the tears from his eyes.

"I'm not…" She said still completely red. "Could you not tell anyone…?"

"My lips are sealed." Hinata sighed with relief. "Anyways we should probably go find him before he hurts himself." Hinata smiled.

"Hai."

Hinata and Kaoshi couldn't split up because the Leaf Ninja weren't allowed to wander about on their own. It took them a few hours to find Naruto. He was sitting on a cliff watching the sunset.

"Neh," Kaoshi whispered. "Why don't you go talk to him?" Kaoshi smiled. "He's probably still mad at me." Hinata smiled and nodded.

"He's not like that." She told him. "He's probably already forgiven you and is more concerned that I'm mad at him."

"Good luck kiddo." Kaoshi smiled and gave her a thumbs up.

"Thank you." She said as she approached Naruto.

Hearing the footsteps behind him, Naruto looked back and saw Hinata coming. He felt a shiver go up his spine as she sat down next to him.

"Hi." She said simply.

"Hi…" he responded. There was a long silence. "Aren't you gonna yell at me…?"

"Why?" Hinata asked.

"Because I did that…and…liked it…" He buried his head in his arms.

"No." Hinata said simply.

"Why not…?" Naruto asked, not moving.

"To be honest…I didn't know what to make of it at first…" She said looking at the sky. "After I had a chance to think about it for a little, I did feel somewhat violated."

"I'm sorry…" Naruto said.

"Don't be…" Hinata said placing her hand on his shoulder. "After I thought about it more…I realized that I was actually kind of flattered…" This was not something Naruto expected. He lifted his head up and looked at her.

"What…?"

"I realized that it's only natural for boys to like that kind of stuff…" She said with a smile. "You and your licentious minds can't get enough of it." She looked away a little. "And…"

"And…?"

"It means…you…find me…attractive…as a woman…" Naruto was confused. Why was that something that mattered? Most girls would bop him upside the head and yell at him. "Right…?" She looked at him. He couldn't tell if she was blushing or not because of the red setting sun.

"Yes…" Naruto thought for a second. Was this the Hinata he knew? "Hina-chan, you're acting really out of character…"

"I know…that's because if I don't this whole situation wouldn't work as the author intends it." (Honestly I'm just making it up as I go )

"Ah."

Despite the fact that she had made a major hole in the fourth wall, Hinata was unable to explain why she was so full of confidence. She had never felt like this before. Maybe now was the time to…

"Neh, Hina-chan." She looked at him as she lost her train of thought. "You rule." Hinata smiled at the blonde.

**"Man I'm so bored…"** Kyubi said suddenly. **"You haven't called on my chakra in ages…"**

Naruto had almost forgotten about him. The reason for all his troubles, the reason for everyone hating and shunning him, was still residing in his stomach. He couldn't ask Hinata out if she didn't know about the Kyubi.

_"What do you think Hina-chan would think if she found out about you…?"_

**"Eh? She'd probably hate you."** Naruto winced. It made sense though.

"Neh…Hina-chan…" Naruto said, suddenly quiet.

"What is it Naruto-kun?"

"What would you do if you found out something terrible about one of your friends?" This question took Hinata completely off guard.

"What do you…"

"What if one of your friends had a terrible secret that if anyone was told, they'd probably be hated?" Hinata thought for a moment. She had not expected anything like this to happen. If he was asking, either him, or one of the others had a terrible secret. She thought back to the academy days when he was completely exiled from the group. She figured it must be him.

"I'd ask for an explanation for sure…"

"Then…?"

"Depending on that I'd make my decision…"

"Ah…"

"Do you have a secret Naruto…?"

"ME?!" He didn't think she'd see through him so well. Moron. "Umm…"

"Do you…" Hinata gulped. "Want to tell me?"

"I don't want you to hate me…" he said as he buried his head in his arms again.

"I could never hate you Naruto…" There was a short silence.

"Promise…?"

"Promise." She said with a smile. Naruto stood up.

"Hina-chan." Naruto said very sternly. "You can't tell anyone what I'm about so show you…okay?"

"Okay." Naruto lifted up his shirt and focused his chakra causing the Kyubi's seal to be revealed.

"Naruto…" Hinata said wide-eyed. "Is that a…?"

"This is Kyubi." Naruto said looking away. "He was sealed inside me be the fourth Hokage." Silence. Hinata's mouth hung agape. "It's okay if you don't want to keep your promise Hina-chan…I'll understand." He looked down towards the ground.

Hinata was baffled. How could they do that? They ruined Naruto's life when they sealed that thing inside him. Everyone in Konoha had hated him and treated him like he was trash because of that seal. Naruto had never done anything to hurt anyone. Sure he had defaced the Hokage monument on more than one occasion, but nothing to warrant the absolute fear and hatred that had been given to him. Tears started to for in Hinata's eyes.

"You…" Hinata started. "…Don't deserve that thing Naruto…" She wiped her tears away. "You're such an amazing person…" She started to cry again. "Why would they…"

"To save the Village." Naruto said flatly. "It was either me or no one."

"That's too sad…" Hinata said, wiping her eyes again.

"I've come to terms with it…" Naruto said with a forced laugh. "He's not too much of a bastard."

**"Hey…" **the fox grumbled.

"You can talk to him?"

**"Tell her I say hi!"**

"Uhh…" Naruto scratched his head. "He says…Hi."

"Um…Hi…Kyubi…san…" Hinata said very, very awkwardly. She didn't know how to react to something that almost destroyed her entire village, which now possessed the boy she had loved for as long as she could remember, saying hi to her. There was a long awkward silence.

"So…you…don't hate me…?" Naruto asked cautiously.

"I could never…EVER hate you Naruto." Naruto sighed and smiled.

"Thanks Hina-chan," He patted her on the head. "That's good to know." Naruto smiled.

"I don't think you could do anything that could ever make me stop lo…" Hinata's face turned bright red as she slapped her hands over her mouth. Not even Naruto was dense enough to miss this slip-up.

"Lo…?" He asked. His heart skipped a beat.

"Lo…lo…. lo……………lo." Hinata's brain went on overload. She had effed up quite badly. Desperately she looked around for something to cover her screw up. "L-Lovely…w-w-w-weather…?" Naruto looked at the haze that surrounded them.

"Hina-chan…what were you really going to say…?"

"Naruto-kun…I…"

"NARUTO-SAMA!!!!" Kanako yelled when she discovered the pair on the cliff. "Neh, Neh, Naruto-sama, why are you talking to this girl up here on this cliff alone? Is she your sister or something?" Naruto was dumbfounded. He had actually found someone who he felt smarter than. (I am going to make you hate this girl as much as I can. Lol)

"Kanako…we look nothing alike…"

"Oh, right." Kanako completely ignored it. "Anyways, Naruto-sama do you wanna go on a date?"

"Excuse me?"

"Let's go on a date!" She said grabbing Naruto's arm.

"Hold on a second." Naruto said, freeing his arm. "I have to check my…" Naruto smiled. "EAT SMOKE BOMB!!" He yelled as he threw a smoke bomb down to the ground. Naruto darted away past Hinata. As he did he whispered, "We'll talk later." Passing the smoke he crossed his fingers to form the seal for his favorite jutsu, "TAJUU KAGE BUNSHIN NO JUTSU!!"

"Naruto-sama you're such a tease!!" Kanako said giddily as she ran after on of the clones.

Kaoshi stood, mouth agape. He had just witnessed the strangest turn of events ever. Things when from Naruto and Hinata making up, to Naruto revealing his closest secret, to Hinata accidentally almost saying "love", to Kanako ruining everything by appearing out of nowhere. Kaoshi rubbed his temples. He'll just tell Naruto tomorrow that he'll be training him; he's had a tough day.

Naruto sat alone in his room. What a day. He had officially found a stalker. Now he knew how Sasuke felt when he was back in Konoha. Naruto sighed and flopped onto his bead.

What was she going to say? Lo…ve? It was the only thing that made sense really. However Naruto felt that that was just too perfect to be true. A few days after he realizes he likes a girl, she almost confesses her love to him? The chances of that are quite slim. It must have been something else. But what if…

"GYAAH!!" Naruto put his hands on his face and rolled around in his bead. It was eating him alive.

He looked at the green glowing clock. 1 AM. He sighed. He should probably try to sleep, but he didn't feel tired at all.

The next morning all of the Konoha nin were summoned to the Raikage's office. Naruto had planned to talk to Hinata during the walk there, but Kanako had other plans. The glommed on Naruto the entire walk. Luckily it was a short walk from their quarters to the office. The Raikage greeted them warmly.

"Hello everyone, I'm glad you came." He smiled and motioned for them to sit. "Kanako-chan, would you mind leaving Naruto-kun for a while?"

"Aww…that's no fun!"

"I know but we have important matters to discuss."

"Fine…" Kanako left the room and the Raikage got more serious.

"Now, as you know, Kakashi-dono and I have much to discuss. However he is still being treated and it will still be some time before he is able to properly negotiate. Because of this, I invite you to train with some of our ninja while you wait. You've each been assigned a jounin from our village to train under until we've finished our negotiations. Does anyone have any objections?" There was a short silence. "Excellent. Also, Naruto." Naruto looked at the Man, "I've heard that you're still a genin, correct?"

"Yeah." Naruto nodded.

"Well I'd like to invite you to participate in our chuunin exams which are being held in two years."

"Damn straight I'll go." Naruto said.

"Excellent!" The Raikage said clapping his hands together. "Your instructors are downstairs waiting for you." They were lead downstairs by two guards into a large waiting room. There were four three standing there. There was one man and two women. The man was tall with black hair and green eyes. He wore all black and carried multiple weapons. One woman stood in a very proud manner; she had short pink hair tied back into a ponytail with blue eyes and wore a very licentious outfit that drew the eyes to her curvy physique. The last woman stood in a very dignified way; her long black hair fell past her kimono obi.

"Three…?" Naruto said as he counted the four Konoha ninja. "Uhh….I think you're one short." Kaoshi burst into the room.

"GET YOUR ASSES BACK UPSTAIRS, I'M NOT LATE YOU DUMBASSES, YOU'RE EARLY!!" He carried a long black case under his arm. "Bastards, makin me look bad…"

"It's your dumb fault for being late." The other man snickered.

"Shut up." Kaoshi pointed at the case, "I needed to get something."

"Your dildo collection won't help train anyone."

"ABDEGANDKLJLMDKANVKLIOEANSK!!!" Kaoshi yelled. "I HAVE NO DILDO COLLECTION!!"

The four Konoha ninja were silent. Hinata and Tenten could only think of the striking resemblance to Naruto and Sasuke.

"Anyways," The woman in the licentious outfit said, "We'll be training you." She walked up to Hinata, "Well, I'll be training you,"

"H-Hai." Hinata said hoping that the woman wouldn't try to instill her sense of fashion whilst training her.

"I'm Shinobu," She paused. "Not Shinobu-sensei, got it?"

"H-Hai." Shinobu sighed.

"At least that's outta the way." She looked at Hinata's outfit. "It's such a shame though." She said as she touched Hinata's jacket.

"What…?"

"You've got such nice bazongas but you cover them up." Hinata's face turned bright red.

"B-B-B-B-B-B-B?!" Hinata stuttered, unable to get out the word.

"Bazongas, boobies, tits, whatever you wanna call em." She sighed, "You should show some cleavage hon." Hinata couldn't say anything.

"I don't think Naruto'd mind." Kaoshi said grabbing Naruto's head and putting him into a headlock. Naruto's face turned bright red.

Both Naruto and Hinata were unable to say or do anything except stand there blushing. Tenten poked Sasuke.

"Hey, ya think something happened between them?" Sasuke looked at Tenten with an apathetic look.

"Why the hell should I care?"

"You're no fun at all…" Tenten sighed. She suddenly got smacked. "OW! WHO THE--?!" She looked up to see the woman in the kimono standing in front of her.

"Whispering and talking about others is impolite and I will not tolerate it. At least not while I'm training you." Tenten stared with her mouth agape. "Staring is also impolite, you're on your way to another slap, if you don't want it, straighten up." Tenten snapped to attention.

"Good." The woman smiled. "I am Matoko-sensei, and you shall address me as such."

"Hai, Matoko-sensei."

"Excellent." She motioned for Tenten to follow her. "Pupil and I are on our way to train, you all can stand around being fools for as long as you wish." Tenten and Matoko exited.

"What crawled up her pants and died…" Naruto asked.

"Scorpion." Kaoshi and Shinobu replied together. They looked at each other and smiled.

The last Cloud shinobi walked up to Sasuke.

"Mitamaru."

"Sasuke."

"Let's go."

"Fine."

Mitamaru and Sasuke left.

"Squares." Shinobu said.

"Yeah."

"So I guess you're training me, huh?" Naruto said to Kaoshi.

"Yup!" Kaoshi said with a big smile.

"Guess it's better than those other two." Shinobu laughed.

"Naruto, a puddle of mud has more personality than those two do."

"Hehe."

"Anyways, Naruto." Kaoshi removed the case from under his arm. "This is for you."

"Really?" Naruto took the case. There was a series of latches he had to open to get to the contents. After a moment he opened the case. Inside was a Katana in a black sheathe.

"Kaoshi…" Shinobu said surprised. "Are you…"

"Just a minute." Kaoshi smiled. "Naruto, you need to say goodbye to Hinata-chan."

"Eh?" Naruto asked surprised. "Why?"

"The training I'm going to give you can't have any outside sources of chakra other than the trainee and the sensei until a certain point."

"How long…?"

"Probably about the whole two years."

"Oh…" Shinobu noticed Hinata's head droop slightly.

"But I have to bust a major dookey, so I'll be right back." He started to leave. "Oh Shinobu, there's something on your face."

"Really?" They started off to the bathrooms. "Neh, Kaoshi."

"Hmm?"

"You're really gonna do it?"

"Yeah."

"Is that kid that special?"

"He's something else." Kaoshi smiled. "That kid is destined to be great, I just wanna help him along any way I can."

"You haven't changed at all Kaoshi."

"Why would I have?"

"I figured the six years…when you were with Orochimaru…"

"Please." Kaoshi boasted. "I'm too tough for that kind of shit to affect me."

"I missed you."

"I missed you too." (What's this? Kaoshi's past? Bashinahabawhat?!)

"You just wanted to give those kids time to talk didn't you?"

"No, I really gotta shit." Kaoshi rushed into the bathroom.

"What am I gonna do with him…?" Shinobu sighed with a smile.

Meanwhile, back to Naruto and Hinata.

"So…" Naruto said.

"So…" Hinata replied. After a short silence, "You're gonna do it?"

"Yeah." Naruto said simply.

"I see…"

"Do you not want me to?"

"You want to do it, right?"

"Yeah." Naruto smiled. "I need to become even stronger if I wanna become Hokage." Hinata smiled.

"I'll miss you…" Hinata said blushing.

"I'll miss you too, Hina-chan." Naruto flashed his smile. That smile always made Hinata feel better. "Neh, Hina-chan."

"Yes?"

"About what you were gonna say last night…" A lump grew in Hinata's throat. "I guess what I wanna say is…" Hinata prepared herself for the worst. "You can tell me when you're ready." He patted her on the head. "I'll listen any time."

"Naruto…kun…" She was surprised. Not too long ago he would have probably just pestered her until she told him. He really was growing up. She smiled. "Hai." She couldn't help but love him more and more each day.

"Oi!" Kaoshi yelled. "Naruto-kun, you ready?" Naruto looked at Hinata who smiled at him. He smiled back.

"See ya in Two years Hina-chan."

"Hai." And with those last words, they parted.


	21. Ch:25 It's About Friggin Time

Chapter 25: It's About Frickin Time…

Naruto had woken up especially early on this particular morning. Kaoshi-kun usually made him get up at around 8 AM for his training. But today was special. Today was the day he finished his training. He had mastered every jutsu that Kaoshi taught him. All he had to do now was land a solid blow on his sensei. Naruto crept up to Kaoshi's bedside, and rammed his elbow into Kaoshi's stomach.

"BYARGHENFLARGENGRADS?!" Kaoshi yelled to the unexpected pain in his gut. He saw Naruto grinning next to him. "Naruto?! What the hell was that for?!"

"Gotcha." Naruto said as he flicked Kaoshi on the head. "I think that was a fairly solid blow." Kaoshi sat staring for a second before he realized what Naruto meant.

"That's not what I meant dumbass!"

"It doesn't matter." Naruto said slyly. "You never said I had to wait until you woke up. You only said that I had to land a hit on you and never specified a time or a place. You just said it had to be today."

"Fuckin…" Kaoshi bit his lip. Naruto was right. He had only said today. Sometimes he swore that Naruto would make a better lawyer than ninja. "Fine." Kaoshi said with a pout. He wanted to test Naruto one more time before they finished training, but he guessed it was okay. He had watched Naruto progress incredibly quickly through the rigorous training. "Go off and frolic, or whatever it is you kids do."

"Way to sound like an old, sore loser Kaoshi."

"Suck it."

"Ummm no." He smiled and waved at Kaoshi. "Later." Kaoshi sighed and waved him off. Naruto darted away from their secluded training grounds. He had made sure to memorize the way back to the village on their way up because he wanted to be able to rush down as fast as he could, and not have to wait for Kaoshi.

The trail seemed a bit different now. It was slightly more overgrown and seemed smaller. It was true that he had grown a bit in the last two years, and was over 6 feet tall now, but he hadn't expected it to change this much. His white, hooded coat flapped in the breeze. He had finally almost managed to forsake the color orange, and adopted a White coat, which reached down to his knees. The word Uzumaki was written in orange down the back. His hair had not been cut in some time and now resembled the hairstyle of the Yondaime Hokage. In fact, at a glance it was not hard to mistake him for the deceased Hokage. The only noticeable difference was that Naruto carried a Katana.

Naruto jumped from branch to branch in the densely fogged forest. He couldn't wait to see everyone, especially Hina-chan. He hadn't had any contact with anyone other than Kaoshi and Izuna for two whole years. Not even the Kyubi.

After some time, he reached the border of the village and walked in through the gate. The gatekeeper didn't recognize him at first and gave him a little bit of trouble, but Kaoshi arrived shortly and cleared up the matter. Naruto started to scour the village for any signs of his friends. He focused his chakra to his feet, used his wind manipulation and blasted into the air.

He had learned how to manipulate his chakra to move the air around him so he could hover for a few seconds. He sensed saw two people at a training ground a little to the east. One had black hair and the other had pink hair. He floated back down to the ground and headed in that direction.

"Now Hinata, remember to control the chakra and take of a later of wood at a time." Shinobu said with a sigh.

"H-Hai." Hinata hit the wood with her jyuuken and managed to remove the outer layer of wood from the stump.

"Good job!" Shinobu said with a smile. "One more time, and we'll break for food."

"H-Hai." Shinobu sighed again. No matter what she did she couldn't get that stutter out of Hinata's speech. Hinata readied herself and lunged at the stump. Just as her hand was about to meet the stump, Naruto ran up onto the grounds.

"OI!! HINA-CHAN!!" He yelled.

"N-Naruto-kun?!" Hinata lost all focus on what she was doing. Her hand hit the stump and it exploded into sawdust from the amount of chakra in the strike. She blinked and looked down at herself. She was covered in sawdust.

"Hinata!" Shinobu yelled. "Control!"

"H-Hai…" Hinata said bright red. She managed to mess up in front of Naruto on his first day back. He must think she's a terrible ninja.

"AWESOME!!" Naruto yelled. "Hina-chan that was so cool!" He put his hand on her head. "Here, lemme clean ya off." He used his wind manipulation again moving his chakra under the thin layer of dust that covered her. "Bam!" He yelled as he pushed the chakra away from her making all the dust fly off. "How'd you do that?" Naruto asked like a little kid.

"Umm…" She blushed. "I can use my Byakugan to see through the stump and note all the crevices and push my chakra through and shave off a layer or the stump. What you saw was the uncontrolled version where I push my chakra through the whole stump causing it to do that…"

"DOOD!" Naruto yelled again. "That's so cool! I wonder what'd happen if you did that on a person."

"I already know that Naruto-kun." Shinobu said stepping forward. "If it's a glancing hit, a few layers of skin will be ripped off. If it's a solid hit however, depending on the person's amount of chakra and how well they can defend against this type of attack, it can do either of the following: It can destroy a person from the inside out, or literally blow a person in half." Naruto's jaw dropped. "She may be stronger than you now Naruto."

"I don't think…" Hinata started.

"I wouldn't doubt it!" He said shocked. "Remind me to never piss you off!"

"I don't think you could even if you tried." She said with a smile. Naruto reddened a little. Shinobu sighed.

"Well since Blondie is back Hinata probably won't be able to concentrate…" She shooed them away. "Why don't you go catch up elsewhere?"

"Good idea." Naruto said with a smile. "C'mon Hina-chan! Have you had breakfast yet?"

"Eh? Um no…"

"Awesome! Let's go!" He said as he grabbed her arm and started tugging her off.

"N-Naruto-kun…" she said. "Is it going to be just us…?"

"Yeah…?" Why did it matter? "I guess." Naruto noticed Hinata's blushing. "I-If you want…we can find some other people to go…"

"N-No…it's fine…" She said with a smile. Naruto smiled back. He suddenly got an idea.

"N-Neh…" He said blushing.

"Yes…?"

"Y-You… wanna…I dunno…make it…a…date…?"

"A-A-A-A-A-A-A d-d-d-d-d-date???" She stuttered, surprised. This was like a dream come true. Hinata never imagined anything like this happening.

"If you don't want to…"

"NO!" She said with far too much conviction. "I mean…n-no…I'd l-like that…" Naruto breathed a sigh of relief and smiled his big smile.

"Awesome! Let's go!" The two of them found a small restaurant which Hinata and Shinobu frequented.

"This place has good ramen Naruto-kun…"

"Awesome!" They walked in. It was even smaller on the inside than it looked. It was basically a ramen stand inside.

"I know it's not much…" Hinata said, "But I know how much you like ramen…"

"Thanks, Hina-chan." He said smiling. The two of them sat down. Naruto ordered a bowl of miso ramen and Hinata ordered a traditional breakfast. After several moments Hinata excused herself to go to the bathroom.

"Hey, kid." The woman behind the counter said.

"Mm…?" Naruto couldn't annunciate properly due to the ramen hanging from his mouth. He slurped it up. "What's up?"

"For the past two years that girl's been coming here almost every day." The woman leaned forward. "You don't know how many times I've seen people try to get with that girl." Naruto didn't follow and the look on his face showed it plainly. "There have probably been almost a hundred people she's turned down."

"Wow…" Naruto said, lacking anything better.

"Not too long ago I asked her why."

"Uh-huh…?"

"She responded, 'Because there's someone special I'm waiting for.'" Naruto felt his heart crack a little on the inside.

"Oh…" Hinata was waiting for someone.

"She said it was someone from back home." She propped her head on her hand. "And since you're here, chances are it's not you." The woman shifted her weight and continued. "She really digs this guy. She always talks about how nice, fun, sweet, and strong he is. She's liked this guy for quite some time apparently."

"I see…" Naruto looked down. "I…I didn't know…" Naruto opened his wallet and put some money on the table. "When she comes back…tell her I said I'm sorry and I didn't realize that there was already someone else."

"Will do."

"Bye…" Naruto said with a wave as he walked out, head hanging low. Shortly after Naruto's departure, Hinata returned from the bathroom and noticed a lack of Naruto.

"Umm…" Hinata asked the woman at the counter, "Aoi-san…The boy I was just with…"

"Don't worry, I told him all about your special someone." Hinata's jaw dropped. "He left and said he was sorry. Nice guy though. A looker too."

"A-A-A-Aoi-san…" Hinata said with tears flowing down her face. "Th-th-th-that was him…the special…"

"It was?!" Aoi almost yelled, her voice full of guilt. "Oh my god…I'm so sorry Hinata!"

"D-Don't be…you…didn't…" She couldn't finish her sentence through her sobs.

"Go after him! He just left!"

"H-H-H-How…I d-d-don't even know…"

"You don't know if he likes you?" Aoi sighed. "Well that's a risk you'll have to take isn't it?" Hinata sniffed. "Or do you wanna lose him forever and never know how he feels?" She walked around to Hinata. "If he didn't at least care about you a little bit, do you think he'd have left in such a hurry?"

Hinata was afraid. She didn't want to lose Naruto. She wanted to tell him how she felt. She got up and wiped her tears away and ran out the door.

"Good luck kid…" Aoi said guiltily. "Sorry…"

Hinata raced down the street. She had no idea where Naruto was even headed, but still she ran. There was only one place she thought to go. That was the cliff that she had almost confessed her love to him on. It was far away, almost a twenty-minute run.

She got there as fast as she could. Sure enough, there he was. She watched him from afar for some time, not knowing what to say or how to approach him. She was nervous but she had to do something. It took her almost another ten minutes to gather her courage. She took a deep breath and…

"Neh…Hina-chan…" Naruto said with no voice inflection. Well that solved one problem at least.

"H-Hai…Naruto-kun…I…" She started to say but was interrupted by Naruto's hand.

"Please…" He turned and looked at her. "There's something I have to say as a man." He stood up. "I know you're waiting for someone. But I just can't sit by and ignore what I feel."

"N-Naruto…kun…?"

"Hina-chan…I've been doing a lot of thinking…" He said as he walked over to her. "These last two years have given me a great opportunity to sort out what's going on inside my head," He placed his hand over his heart. "…And my heart." He smiled a sad smile. "When I was little…I liked Sakura…or…thought I did. She was the only girl I ever really hung out with at all…so I thought it was only natural that she be the girl I like. Looking back…I realize that I didn't like her…I can't explain what I was thinking…but that's all there is to it." He motioned for Hinata to sit, as he was monologuing. "Do you know when I realized this?" Hinata shook her head. "Not long after this mission started. More specifically when I started to talk to you and spend time with you." A lump grew in Hinata's throat. "I didn't know it was possible to have so much fun and get along so well with anyone…" He smiled. "I remember it like it was yesterday…"

"W-W-What is th-that?"

"Remember when I told you what my ideal girl is…?" Hinata thought back to two years ago when Naruto and her were walking alone on that mountain trail.

"_I mean Sakura's nice…but she's also a very angry person. Not to mention she's Sasuke-crazed. Even if she wasn't, I'd have to say I want a more subtle girl. One who doesn't jump all over you when you're around. Someone…cute, who will listen to every word I have to say, no matter how silly, who will blush when I put my arm around her…" _

"H-Hai…"

"Well, when I said that…I realized that there's only one person I know who could possibly fit that description…and she's the person I really want to be with…" He looked at Hinata and smiled a very sad smile, which pained Hinata to look at. "But I guess it's impossible…She's gotta guy who she's wanted to be with for a while now…" Hinata was shocked. He couldn't possibly be talking about her, could he?

"N-Naruto…k-kun…do you…I mean…is it…?" Hinata was stammering all over herself, she couldn't believe where this was going.

"I'm crazy about you Hinata." Hinata's heart almost stopped completely. "I really, really like you. I have for two years. All I could think about while I was training was to become strong enough to protect you…" He looked away from her.

"N-Na…" Tears of joy were streaming down her face.

"I know it's impossible…" He sighed, "That guy you like must be really amazing…"

"He is…" Hinata said smiling through her tears. Naruto looked away to hide his tears. "He's the most amazing person I know…you may know him…"

"Hina-chan…please…don't…"

"His name…" Naruto clenched his eyes shut and turned his back to her. Hinata wrapped her arms around his stomach and hugged him gently. She put her lips right next to his ear and whispered, "…Uzumaki Naruto." Naruto's eyes widened very, very slowly.

"Y-You mean…" Naruto slowly turned around. "Even though I have the Kyubi…?"

"I've watched you for as long as I can remember Naruto-kun…" She buried her head into his back. "At first I just admired you for being able to say what was on your mind and live happily with who you were." Tears or joy flowed down both of their faces. "That soon turned into a crush…but I was too shy to say anything…especially since you were so avidly trying to go out with Sakura…" She smiled. "You're the most amazing person I know…I hadn't even dreamed that you would like me…"

"I like you Hina-chan." Naruto said wiping his tears away.

"I like you to Naruto-kun…"

"Neh…" He said looking up at the sky. "Will you be my girlfriend…?"

"H-Hai." She said smiling. She let go of Naruto and he turned around to look at her. Naruto wiped her tears away. "Th-this is the happiest day of my life…" She said as a fresh set of tears flowed from her eyes.

"I never thought anyone would associate…let alone like me…being a monster…"

"You're not a monster Naruto-kun…" she said as she put her hand on his cheek. "You're you."

"Thank you, Hina-chan." He looked down at her blushed, smiling face. The sun peaked through the fog for a brief moment shining light on the two of them. The light danced in Hinata's eyes, which gazed lovingly back at Naruto. "I'll protect you."

"Thank you, Naruto-kun." Naruto watched her lips make every syllable. He suddenly felt compelled to kiss her.

"Hina-chan…" He gulped. "I'm sorry if this is going too far…but I can't help myself…" He pulled the girl forward towards him and their lips met. They were soft, much softer than Naruto had expected. His heart fluttered with excitement as she wrapped her arms around him.

His face suddenly felt wet. He opened his eyes and saw Hinata was crying. Concerned, he pulled away. Their lips tugged at each other as if they too were reluctant to separate. She opened her eyes.

"Why…did you stop…?" She asked. "Was it…unpleasant…?

"No." He said smiling. "It was amazing." He said as he wiped away her tears. "You're crying, and I was concerned."

"I'm just so happy…" Naruto held her head against his chest.

"I am too." He said smiling. "We should probably go…we still haven't eaten." He said and started to move. Hinata grabbed his shirt.

"Can we stay like this a while longer…please…?"

"As long as you want." He said stroking her hair.

"Thank you…" she said. They had had a stressful day so it's no surprise that the new couple dozed off sometime during mid-afternoon and slept until dusk. The two of them had not a care in the world. Life was good.


	22. Ch:26 Kinda Creepy

Hmmm, This Chapter's a little…dark…and kinda creepy. Yazu scares me. "

Well I hope you find this chapter remotely entertaining. I wanted to have some filler before the Chuunin exams and I think this qualifies as remotely interesting filler, don't you?

Honestly, whenever I put out a chapter, I always think it sucks…this is no exception. I think that this chapter is horribly written and overdone. I hope you enjoy it at least a little.

Chapter 26:

Naruto groaned as he awoke from a heavy slumber. He stretched his arms out and scratched his head. He had been having a wonderful dream where he and Hinata had confessed their feelings, became a couple, kissed, and fallen asleep together. Not like that perv-asses.

"Wait a sec…" Naruto said, trying to remember if his dream had actually happened or not. He looked down to see a sleeping Hinata resting against his chest. "Oh yeah…" Naruto said with a smile. It wasn't a dream. "Sweet." He said as he ruffled Hinata's hair. She stirred.

"N-Naruto…kun…?"

"Hey, Hina-chan." He said as he hugged her closely. "Wassup?"

"I had a wonderful dream…"

"Me too."

"What happened in it?"

"This." Naruto pulled Hinata forward and kissed her. He could feel her face grow warm as she blushed. After a second he pulled away.

"I-I guess we had similar dreams…" Hinata said with amazingly only one stutter. Naruto chuckled.

"I guess so." The two stared at each other for a while longer.

It wasn't until Naruto's stomach decided to make its opinion known that the two moved from their spot. They walked over to Aoi's restaurant to tell her that everything had worked out. After a long discussion, several bowls of ramen, and a stomachache later, the two left Aoi's restaurant.

"Wow, it's already this late?" Naruto commented, looking at the clock.

"Wow…" Hinata sighed.

"What's wrong?"

"Well…I have to go read up on theories and politics and such…"

"Why do you have to do all that…?"

"Well…as the heir to the Hyuuga clan, Shinobu thought I should be well-versed in many areas."

"I see…" Naruto said scratching his head.

"You don't have to come if you don't want to," She said with a smile, "I know how bored you get when you have to read or be quiet for too long."

"I'm still going." He said with a smile.

"Why…? If it bores you…"

"Well I'm gonna be bored anyways…" Naruto said, "And being bored with you is much better than being bored with anybody else."

"Aww…" Hinata said blushing. "…You're so cute." Naruto turned red.

"M-Men aren't cute Hinata…we're…we're…MANLY!" he said puffing out his chest with a grunt. Hinata giggled.

"It's even more cute that you deny it."

"Whaaaat?! I don't get it!!"

"You're not supposed to." She said with a smile. Naruto sighed, he wasn't gonna get anywhere at this rate.

"Hinata-chan?" A voice said from behind the two. Naruto and Hinata turned around to see a very sickly looking boy. Naruto guesstimated him to be about 18. He was tall and very thin with long black hair that fell at the nape of his neck and curled out above his small black eyes. He wore mostly black.

"Oh, hi Konnyaku-san." Hinata said with a cute smile. "Ready to hit the books?"

"You bet." He said with a faint smile. "You know Hinata-chan, I've told you to call me Yazu several times…"

"I know…" Hinata said. "But Konnyaku-kun fits you better…" Yazu sighed and looked at Naruto.

"Hey…Hinata-chan…who's this?" He said pointing at Naruto.

"Oh…" Hinata said smiling. "This is Naruto…" She paused. "My…"

"Your…?"

"My…my…my…"

"Your…?"

"B-B-B-B-B-Boyfriend…" Hinata finally managed to squeeze out. The boy seemed a bit thrown off.

"B-Boyfriend?"

"As of today." Naruto said happily.

_"Then it's not too late for my plan…"_ Yazu thought to himself. _"If I do it tonight…everything should go smoothly…"_ He sighed. _"I had planned to ask her out to lower her guard first but…my preparations are flawless…everything will be fine."_

"That's great, I'm so happy for you." He said with a very fake smile, which Naruto picked up on.

Naruto had always been good at reading character, and he did NOT like this guy.

"Thank you, we're both very excited." Hinata said with a smile. "Right Naruto-kun?"

"Yup!" Naruto said, putting up a believable smile for Hinata so she wouldn't notice his concern. Naruto sighed; he'd have to watch this guy closely. There was just something about him that bugged Naruto.

After a few hours, Naruto was practically falling asleep at his chair. Hinata suggested that Naruto head back to his room. He didn't want to but after another few minutes, he doubted he could stay awake much longer. He didn't think that Yazu would try to pull anything, after all Hinata was a diplomat from another country, if something happened to her, it'd mean unpleasant things. Just to be safe, Naruto pulled Hinata aside.

"Hina-chan, I want you to be careful around him…I'm getting a weird vibe from him."

"It's okay Naruto-kun, we've been studying together for about a year now. He's walked me home on several occasions…He's really a very nice guy."

"Please…for me."

"Okay…" Hinata sighed. "If it makes you feel better…"

"It does…Thank you." Naruto said with a yawn. He gave her a kiss on the cheek, which made her turn beat red. "I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

"Okay." She returned Naruto's kiss and Naruto departed. Another hour would pass before Hinata and Yazu would call it a night.

"May I walk you back to your quarters?" Yazu said, in a very gentlemanly manner.

"Umm…" Hinata thought for a second. "I don't want you to go out of your way…" Hinata said, trying to be polite about not walking home with Yazu.

"It's right on the way." He said smiling. "I wouldn't feel right if I let a young lady like yourself walk home alone late at night in a strange country."

"It's not really a strange country anymore…I've been here for two years."

"But still, there are bad people in every country Hinata-chan."

Hinata sighed. There was no point in trying; he'd just come up with an excuse. It was only a few blocks…what could happen?

"Fine." Hinata said.

"Thank you." He said with a smile. They walked along the dimly lit road. In between the weak lamps there was almost total darkness. Yazu prepared something in his sleeve, Hinata did not notice. As they walked past the next lamp, Yazu broke the silence. "Neh, Hinata-chan, feeling sleepy?"

"Not really." She said thoughtfully. "I could stay up for a…" Hinata felt a small prick on the back of her neck as the needle found its way past her skin. Hinata's body went limp and Yazu caught her.

"Hehe, are you sure?" He said as he lifted her up onto his back and faded into the night.

Several hours later Hinata awoke. She found herself in a dark, dank, decrepit room lit only by candles. She couldn't move because of the bindings on her hands and feet. Also, her chakra seemed to be suppressed and she couldn't focus enough to activate her Byakugan. It was very hard for her to see but she could hear breathing on the far side of the room.

"Hello…Hinata-chan."

"Y-Yazu…?" She asked frightened.

"Yes." His voice was scratchy.

"Why…?"

"Because Hinata…you chose someone else. If you had picked me, things would have been much simpler.

"What are you talking about?!" she said as tears started to flow down her cheeks.

"If you hadn't picked that other boy…I would've waited until your feelings for me matured…but you've reduced me to this.

"How…how could you do this?"

"How…?" He thought for a second. "I suppose you could call me a serial murderer or a serial rapist…or a serial murderer who rapes his victims…or a serial rapist who kills his victims… I suppose I fit into all of those categories."

Hinata tried to struggle to free herself.

"Oh, you'll find that to be quite futile. The drug I used on you makes you limp as a noodle for twelve hours."

"W-W-What are y-you going t-to d-do with me…?"

"Isn't that obvious?" He said spreading his arms. "I could just rape you and kill you…but I've grown tired of that…I've also grown bored of killing then raping…I think I'm going to try something new…you should be honored." Hinata cringed. "Look around you…you can see the remains of many of the one's I've 'loved'." To Hinata's horror there were at least twenty skulls wrapping around the walls. "Twenty-six to be precise. I remember them all too well…" He sighed. "But you will be my most cherished prize…" He stood up. "You see Hinata-chan, I've fallen for you. I think it's because you resemble my mother…my first victim. I was twelve if my memory serves…"

"You're…horrible…"

"I knew you'd say that when you found out. So predictable." He sighed. "Thought I can't say I predicted your boyfriend…I suppose I'll dispose of him later. As for now…I guess you're wondering what I have planned for you…" He walked up to Hinata and ripped off her pants, revealing her panties. "I'm going to have my way with you, as many times as I want. I suppose you could call yourself my love slave. Now, you're probably asking yourself WHY I didn't just do that while you were sleeping. I suppose it's because I wanted to see your reaction…I must admit I'm quite pleased with it, sheer terror. You can't do anything to stop me, and you must know that no one is going to save you. It's absolutely delicious." He licked his lips.

"Naruto-kun will save me!"

"Hmm…" Yazu sighed. "I suppose it's entirely plausible. IF he can find my secret hideout, get past my one-hundred ninety four booby traps, AND defeat me." He looked at Hinata. "I suggest you refrain from saying anything to ruin the mood again. I just might kill you." He said with a smile.

_"Save me Naruto-kun…"_ Hinata looked down and to her horror saw Yazu drop his trousers and reveal his…err… "Member".

"Ready for some fun, Hinata-chan?" He said with a wild smile. "I certainly hope so, this will last all night."

DUN…DUN…..DDUUUNNNN!!!!!!!!

To Be Continued….WHEN I FEEL LIKE IT!! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!


	23. Ch:27 Laugh at Yazu plz!

ANOTHER CLIFFHANGER!! You know you love it. Once again, I feel as though this chapter is lacking something…Oh well:D

Chapter 27: Laugh at Yazu plz.

"Well Hinata-chan…shall we?" Yazu said as he approached Hinata. Hinata had to get him to stop, delay him somehow. Kurenai once told her that if she found herself in a situation where she was alone, about to be hurt by a psychopath, she had to ask questions that would get him to talk, questions that he'd love to answer.

"Konnyaku…" She frantically tried to think of something. "How…how long have you been like this…?"

"How long…?" he stopped his advancement. "I believe I already told you, since I was twelve. That's when I killed and raped my mother." He smiled. "It's amazing how complex life is…it took millions of years of evolution to perfect us as a species, yet a single knife going through our skin can obliterate millions of years of hard work. It's amazing isn't it?" Hinata nodded shakily. That was a good question but she needed more. "The way the knife went through her jugular and the blood spewed out…it was amazing…"

"W-What caused you to…"

"Why am I like this?" Hinata nodded. "I don't know. You might call me insane. I love the way the blood splatters from a human neck, or the way they convulse when you get them with the right type of poison, the way their eyes look when you snap their neck…it's an amazing feeling, don't you agree?" Hinata had never killed someone so she wouldn't even be able to begin to comprehend what he was talking about. "Hmm, it seems you've never killed someone. Don't worry; we'll be together forever…I'll be sure to bring some people back for you to kill. It's very enjoyable." He looked at her, wide-eyed. "That answer your question?" Hinata shook her head. "Really?" She nodded.

"There had to be something that put you over the edge…"

"OH!" He said, snapping his fingers. "You don't want to know WHY I'm like this…you want to know HOW I became like this…" Hinata nodded. "That's a very good question, I don't rightfully know myself…" He sat down in his chair and stroked his chin. "Hmmm…"

_"YES!" _Hinata celebrated in her head. _"Thank you Kurenai!"_

"Hmm…" he sat up. "Does it really matter?" Hinata shuddered.

"Y-Yes!" She said.

"Why?" Yazu asked confused.

"Umm…" Hinata had dug herself into a hole. She had to come up with a lie, and fast. Unfortunately, Hinata wasn't very good at lying. "Well…" She had to come up with something that would make him stall more. Maybe…. "…S-s-since I'm going t-to be h-here forever…I th-think I h-have the right to know why…"

_"WORK!" _she yelled in her head.

"Hmm…" Yazu sat back in his chair. "I suppose you are indeed correct." He smiled, "It's good to see you've accepted your fate." He got serious. "Now…why was it…?" He sighed. "Well, when I was young, I never fit in…I was beat by my father constantly, he blamed me for my mothers death in labor."

"I thought you said…"

"Yes, this is my real mother I'm talking about. The one I killed was my stepmother." He slid down in his chair. "When I was about seven he brought home The Whip…I've got two hundred and eighty three scars from that whip. He didn't care about my progressions as a ninja, a scholar, or anything. He just saw me as what killed his true love. When he remarried, I was happy. I thought he'd hit me less." He sighed. "That wasn't the case. The beatings continued. At about ten I realized that I started to fall in love with my stepmother. She was beautiful. Long, silky black hair, pale skin…you could be her if it weren't for your eyes."

"I see…" Hinata said. She had to keep talking, keep him interested in himself. She didn't want to think of the alternative. "Then what?"

"Well, for two years of being beaten by my father and being in love with my stepmother I couldn't take it anymore. When my father went off to work, I went to the kitchen, grabbed a knife…and killed my stepmother. It was a beautiful sight…the blood spray from her neck…like a piece of under appreciated art…I cried because it was so beautiful."

"W-Why did you kill her if you loved her?"

"Why…?" He asked himself. "I suppose because I knew I could never have her." He sighed again. "She loved my father."

"Then why didn't you just kill him?"

"She'd never love me if I killed him. I thought that it'd be better if she died and was removed from the suffering of loving such a horrid man." He slouched. "And the rest is history."

"But…h-how…"

"How did I get away with it?" He said smiling. "Well I…" he stopped. He scratched his head. A look of realization passed over his face. "Ahh, I see…"

"What…?" Hinata asked.

"I see what you're up to…"

_"No…!"_

"You're stalling." He chuckled. "You still honestly believe that you're going to be saved? HAH! That's a laugh." His demeanor changed instantly. "Thought I'm disappointed in you…I honestly thought you had accepted your fate. Well then, I suppose I should get started."

"Save me…Naruto-kun…" She whispered.

"It's too late for that!" Yazu started towards her.

"NO!"

"Hey!" A familiar voice yelled. "Faggot-butt!" Naruto kicked in the door.

"N-Naruto-kun?!"

"Honestly, I don't like the way you're treating my girlfriend." His voice was low, almost a growl. Red chakra was starting to ooze out of him. His eyes were still blue, but had the Kyubi'd out thin slit for a pupil.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!" Yazu yelled in fury.

"What does it look like asstard?" He growled, "Saving the day."

"Naruto-kun…" Hinata said with a relieved sigh. "Thank goodness…"

"I said I'd protect you." He was restraining himself as best he could. The Kyubi aura was desperately looking for a way out through his anger.

_"Chill out Naruto…I know it's hard but relax." _The voice of a young woman said inside Naruto's head.

_"I'm trying…"_ Naruto responded. _"It's not easy though…there's three different people in my head telling me what to do. Me, You, and Him."_

_"I know. Just do your best." _And then she added, _"For her sake. Don't let her see you Kyubi'd out."_

_"Yeah…"_ Naruto took a deep breath and relaxed himself. _"Thanks Izuna."_

_"Any time partner."_

"I suggest you let her go NOW." Naruto said as he suppressed the Kyubi aura even more.

"What are you going to do?" Yazu laughed. "You've already fell for one of my traps."

"No, I totally didn't."

"Yes, you did." Yazu made a hand seal. "Watch what happens to your reality when I do this." Naruto suddenly found himself in a dark abyss.

"Genjutsu huh…?" his voice echoed throughout the infinite darkness. "Izuna, if you would."

_"KAI!"_ The sudden burst of chakra snapped Naruto out of the Genjutsu. As he returned to reality he saw Yazu brandishing a kunai, which was doused in some liquid about two feet away.

"SHIT!" He yelled as he ducked under the poorly aimed slash. Naruto unsheathed his sword and hit Yazu's hand with the hilt, causing him to drop his kunai. The small throwing knife fell to the wooden floor and started to sizzle. "Acid?"

"Yes." Yazu said proudly. "My own special poison. It's a very deadly poison mixed with an incredibly potent acid. The acid will burn through your skin and the poison will kill you. I don't even have to cut you for you to die."

"Unfortunately, you can't get close enough to me to use that." Naruto said confidently.

"Who needs to get close?!" Yazu threw several more kunai at Naruto. He parried them with his sword.

_"OW!"_ Izuna yelled. _"THAT ACID STINGS!"_

_"Any real damage?"_ Naruto asked.

_"No, but it's really unpleasant."_

_"Then do you think you can put up with it till I can kill this bastard?"_

_"Do it fast."_

_"I'll do my best."_

"How's this?!" Yazu yelled as he stepped on a floorboard. The walls and ceiling shifted to reveal many holes. "Die." Out of the holes came kunai, a lot.

"SHIT!" Naruto yelled again. He closed his eyes, two glowing orbs appeared. He reached towards the first one

_"Wow…already?"_

_"YES I need it NOW!"_

_"KAI!"_ they both yelled. Chakra filled the room.

"It doesn't matter how much chakra you flaunt! You'll still die from the poison!"

"I said this before…. and I'll say it again." Several kunai fell to the ground, all cut in half. "You'll never come close enough to hit me." He pointed his blade at Yazu. Yazu cringed seeing the blade had clearly gotten longer. "Mind release."

"Masamune…?" Yazu asked shakily. "Wasn't it just…?"

"Yes. This is Izuna, my partner in crime."

"So, it seems Kaoshi-kun taught you his clan's secret?"

"Yeah, that's about the size of it."

"How ironic though." Yazu laughed.

"What?"

"You see, in the Lightning country, we have a sort of legend. It says that anyone who wields that type of sword will only cause pain and misfortune to others." Yazu laughed again. "I find it amusing that you, someone who wields that blade is trying to protect someone."

"Shut it." Naruto said. "I know of the legend. But I'm not one to believe in such bull." Naruto sighed. "And for the LOVE OF GOD can you PUT SOME FUCKING PANTS ON?! YOUR TINY DICK IS MAKING ME SICK!"

"It's not the size that matters…it's how you use it."

"Says the man who has to kill and rape people to get any action."

"Ahh, touché."

"So you're not gonna put any pants on?"

"No."

"Fine. If you're gonna be like that…" Naruto readied Izuna. "Senkousen!" (I think I spelled it right!) Naruto disappeared, a streak of light bolted across the room, Naruto reappeared behind Yazu. "There…" Naruto said with a pant.

"What?" Yazu asked confused. "What did you accomplish?"

"Look down." Yazu complied. To his absolute horror what he expected to see, his thingy, was not there. In its place was a bloody stump. He fell to his knees in pain. "I'd like to see you rape anything NOW." Naruto taunted, then added, "Bitch."

"How could you…?" Yazu moaned. "How could you do that to another man?!"

"I don't even see you as a human." Naruto scoffed. "There's nothing wrong with neutering animals so they don't reproduce. That's what I did to you. There's no way anyone should have the displeasure of being your child, or that child's mother."

"You…BASTARD!!" He held his…area…to try and stop the blood. He put his hands together to form a seal.

"Don't even try, you can't get me." Naruto sighed. "Whatever Genjutsu you put on me I can break out with Izuna's help and block any attack you can think of."

"Hehe…" Yazu said glancing at Hinata. "We'll see."

"Shit!" Naruto yelled as he darted towards Hinata. Yazu finished his Genjutsu on Naruto and threw a poisoned kunai at Hinata. Naruto found himself in a pit of snakes, which started biting him. "Dammit!!" Naruto yelled. "Izuna!"

_"He…he put one on me too…"_

"Dammit!" Naruto looked up, he saw a kunai flying at Hinata in slow motion. "NO!"

**"Does someone need my help?"** a familiar voice asked.

"Shut it Kyubi!"

**"I can break you out of this Genjutsu if you ask nicely."** The fox laughed. **"I'll even be nice enough to forgive you for ignoring me for two years."**

_"Don't listen Naruto!" _Izuna yelled. _"He wants to exploit your desperation!"_

"WELL I'M FUCKING DESPERATE!!" Naruto replied angrily.

**"So…how about it?" **Kyubi asked. **"Let me have control again…and I'll let you save your girl."**

"Dammit!" Naruto yelled. He thrashed around at the snakes, trying to free himself. He looked up. The kunai had almost reached Hinata. "SHIIIIIT!!"

**"RELEASE ME!"** The fox yelled.

_"DON'T DO IT NARUTO!" _Izuna yelled back. _"EVERYTHING WE'VE ACCOMPLISHED WILL MEAN NOTHING IF YOU DO!!"_

"Everybody…" Naruto took a deep breath. "SHUT THE FUCK UP!! I'm ONLY in a Genjutsu! I should be able to move my body without having to break the Genjutsu!" Naruto stood up. Snakes hung from his body. "FUCK YOU YAZU!" Naruto made a throwing motion with the hand that Izuna was in towards where Yazu was kneeling. The Genjutsu broke. Naruto dashed towards Hinata, taking the kunai in his left shoulder.

"Ha…" Yazu coughed. "Looks like neither of us…get…her…" he coughed again, this time blood came up. Naruto looked at him. Izuna's hilt was sticking out of his chest.

"Gotcha…Bitch." Naruto said shakily. He cursed. He thought that the mail armor hidden by his coat would have stopped the kunai, but it pricked his skin. He could feel the poison taking effect. He had trouble moving and feeling his chakra. He realized the poison was attacking his chakra points. If he could close them…He looked at Hinata and realized there was still hope. With the last of his strength he ripped Hinata free of her bindings. "Hinata…"

"Naruto-kun!" She grabbed onto him sobbing.

"Hina-chan, I need you to close my chakra points…now…"

"What…?" Hinata asked confused.

"Do it…or I'll die…" Hinata did not like the consequences. Her chakra was no longer bound by the restraints so she activated her Byakugan. She clearly saw what was happening. His inner coils system was slowly being taken over by some unknown …funk. She took a deep breath and closed all of his uninfected chakra points. Naruto sighed, he closed his eyes and fell limp in Hinata's arms.

"Naruto-kun…?" Hinata asked shakily. No response. "NARUTO-KUN!"


	24. Ch:28 Day in the Life

Yeah, I know it's out of character to make Sakura not totally worthless, but I figure EVERYONE needs a break SOMETIMES.

Sorry that this is taking so long. I be sleepy and stuff. Between work and Videogames I have little time for myself.

So, yeah. It's been forever. I'm well aware of that. Sorry. I just couldn't get in the mood to write. But after seeing a NaruHina thesis, I'm raring to go again.

Chapter 28: Day in the Life

"We have a Konohaian diplomat suffering from an unknown chakra poison!" the med Nin yelled. "Out of the way! It's not too late!" They put Naruto on a stretcher and ran into the operating room.

Hinata had carried Naruto all the way to the Hospital from Yazu's hideout. Mind you, she was rollin without pantaloons. She sat outside the operating room in tears.

After nearly four hours, the doctors started coming out. Hinata looked at them with puffy eyes, hoping for good news; they all past her without glancing in her direction. The last person to walk out of the room, to Hinata's surprise, was Sakura.

"Sakura-chan…" Hinata hiccupped. "Is…he…?"

"He'll be fine." Sakura smiled. "It was a nasty poison, and he probably shouldn't be able to do much for about two weeks, but other than that…" Sakura paused and smiled. "We expect a full recovery." Tears of joy fell from Hinata's eyes.

"Th-th-thank you…" she managed to say between sobs.

"Hey…Hinata-chan…" Sakura said sitting down beside her. "I know it's sudden…but I'm DYING of curiosity…what happened between you and Naruto?"

"Well…" Hinata told Sakura everything that had happened that day. "…That's it…"

"Wow…" Sakura said scratching her head. "He finally stopped being a moron…" She sighed. "Then he almost gets himself killed on your first day going out…I don't know if that makes him more or less of a moron…"

"When can I go see him…?"

"Not today." Sakura said. "He needs rest."

"Oh…"

"In that case." Sakura said. "We can't have you running around pantless." She said with a smile. "Lets find you something to wear…huh?"

"Thank you Sakura…thank you so much…"

"Don't mention it." Sakura said with a smile.

Sakura and Hinata left the area. Shortly after, a shinobi dropped down from the ceiling. A black hood covered his face. He put his foot on the chair where Hinata had been sitting.

"So…Yazu failed." He grumbled. "I knew we shouldn't have let that amateur handle this…" He sighed. "Even so, I have to report this to the Leader. He'll be none-too-happy." The sound of footsteps and soft voices echoed through the empty hallway. "Feh, I don't get why I couldn't just take him now…it'd sure be a hell of a lot easier." Sakura and Hinata rounded the corner and took their places in the same, empty waiting area they had just been in.

"…yeah, but knowing Naruto, he'll be trying to escape by tomorrow." Sakura said, causing Hinata to giggle. After a short silence Hinata said,

"Thanks for waiting with me Sakura-chan…" she said with a smile.

"No problem, this is all I'm good for. I have not plot value whatsoever."

"Damn right Sakura, glad you noticed." Kakashi said as he walked out of a door reading, "staff only".

"KAKASHI-SENSEI!! YOU'RE NOT STAFF!!"

"So? They didn't notice me." Kakashi said with a hidden smile. "No blood, no foul." He glanced over at Hinata. "Hey, I need to have a chat with you kiddo."

"Eh…?" Hinata asked, pointing to herself.

"Yeah, c'mere." Kakashi motioned for her to follow. They went into the next hall.

"What is it Kakashi-sensei?" Hinata asked.

"Well I have bad news…and worse news."

"Umm…" Hinata sighed; she didn't like the sound of that. "Give me the bad news."

"Well, Hiashi-sama has decided you've been away for way too long, and wants you home."

"What? Why?" Hinata asked startled.

"Something about being the heir…or some such nonsense."

Hinata sighed. It wasn't good news…but she could live with that…the hardest part would be telling Naruto.

"And the worse news…?" Hinata asked.

"Well…" Kakashi sighed. "I have reason to believe someone wants you dead."

"What?!" Hinata said as closely to a yell as she could possibly manage.

"My resources tell me that there was a paper trail between Yazu and an unknown third party. They communicated frequently, discussing a plan of sorts. Several times, there was mention of a girl." Kakashi looked at Hinata. "Namely you."

"I don't…" Hinata stammered. "I haven't done anything…"

"Not consciously…no…" Kakashi said in contemplation. "Quite frankly, I don't know what it is you did. I do believe your relationship with Naruto has at least a minor consequence here…"

"Naruto-kun…?" Hinata asked puzzled. "What could that…" She thought for a moment until it came to her. "Oh." She said when she realized.

"The Kyubi." Kakashi said. "In other words, the Akatsuki for some reason want to get you away from Naruto." He sighed. "Once again, that raises the question 'Why?'" He placed his hand on his chin. "I don't know very much yet…" He sighed. "But I do know that the Raikage wants Naruto to stay here even after the mission is complete."

"What?!" Hinata yelped, rather loudly. "Why…?"

"I don't know." Kakashi sighed. "Keeping a diplomat here for negotiations and all isn't a bad idea technically speaking…but it's Naruto…who has the Akatsuki after him…" Kakashi's eye narrowed. "I don't like it. The Raikage was never told that Naruto was a Jinchuriki, but I think there's someone in the background pulling the strings…" He moaned. "There has to be something I'm missing." He patted Hinata on the head. "Don't worry too much about it. I'm having you, all the Konoha girls, and Temari, share a room from now on. No one will get near you."

"And Naruto…?" Hinata asked worriedly.

"After he's discharged he'll be living with Kaoshi."

Hinata sighed with relief. Kaoshi was at least someone they could trust.

"And Hinata…" Kakashi added. "Don't trust ANYONE who's not in our little group." He glared at her. "And I mean ANYONE."

"You got it." She said shakily.

"Oh, and I'm sending you home after the Chuunin exams, like your father requested."

"But…"

"While the Akatsuki may want you away from Naruto…their way of accomplishing that would be through death. I think it's wise to send you home. That's final." Noticing the tears welling up in her eyes, Kakashi added. "It's for the best Hinata, think of Naruto."

"Naruto-kun…?"

"How do you think he'd feel if he knew you were being targeted because of him?"

"I know he'd feel horrible…" she said with tears flowing down her face. "…but even so…I want to protect him…I don't care what happens to me…as long as he can live happily…"

"Don't say things like that Hinata." Kakashi said. "Do you really think sacrificing yourself for him would make him happy?"

There was a long, awkward silence.

"C'mon, lets go back to The Worthless Bitch…I mean Sakura." Kakashi said. Hinata was silent, but gave a slight nod.

The three headed in silence to the girls' lodging. Kakashi left the two girls and headed back to his own room. Hinata flopped down on her futon and was out cold. So much had happened that day and she was completely spent. She managed to sleep from 11 AM till 10 PM. A slight knock at the window woke her up. To Hinata's surprise, Naruto was crouching on her balcony. He had bandages and seals covering his whole left arm and continuing up to his shoulder onto his neck.

"Yo." He said simply.

"Naruto-kun?!" Hinata almost yelled in surprise. Naruto smiled and pressed his finger against his lips.

"Shhhhh!"

"Bu-but…you should still be resting!" Hinata scolded.

"Meh…" He sighed. "No matter what the injury, I've always recovered after one night's sleep. It has to do with the Kyubi." He explained. "Even the doctors told me it was okay to leave. I just can't do anything strenuous."

"Okay…" Hinata said worriedly.

"Don't worry Hina-chan." He said with his classic grin. "Everything will be okay."

"Okay…" She sighed. "But I'm still worried…" There was a short silence.

"…So…wanna go for a walk or something?"

"Sure." Hinata said with a smile. "But I'm still in my…" she looked down at the tank top and short-shorts that had become her sleeping outfit, then back at Naruto. She covered herself with a pillow and blushed immensely. "I-I-I'll n-need to ch-change first…" she stammered. Hinata ran to grab a more flattering outfit. Naruto chuckled.

"She's too cute…" he whispered to himself smiling.

"Y-You can wait in here if you want…" Hinata said poking her head out of the bathroom. Naruto chuckled again and hopped into the room. He looked around. Sakura was snoring on the floor a few yards away from Hinata's futon. It was an unpleasant site so Naruto threw a pillow at her.

"Dwah?! Wha? I don't…! Sasuke? Parrots?" Sakura mumbled in a confused daze as she was brought to her senses. "Naruto…?" She asked confusedly. "Why are you here? Shouldn't you be in the hospital…?"

"I am." He smiled. "At least a kage bunshin is." Sakura sighed.

"You know you really shouldn't do that…"

"Ahh shut up, you have no plotline value whatsoever." He said pointing at her. "So I don't wanna hear no shit from you."

"Touché…" She said moping.

"Naruto-kun?" Hinata said walking out of the bathroom, now properly clothed. "Don't be so mean to Sakura."

"Fine." Naruto complained.

"After this walk you're going back to the hospital, okay?"

"Aww…Hina-chan…"

"Please Naruto…I'm begging you…"

"Urrgghh…I…guess…" Naruto said scratching his head. Hinata smiled and walked up to him and hugged him gently.

"Thank you." She said looking at him smiling through her flushed face.

"Yeah, yeah…" He sighed. Hinata grabbed onto his arm and the two started towards the door and eventually outside. Naruto closed the door behind them and inhaled the night air in deeply. "Ah…refreshing." Hinata looked at him and smiled. He gave her a sidelong look. "Eh? What'd I do?"

"Nothing…it's just…" She ran a few steps ahead of him and turned around. "I've…waited so long…for…" she paused and blushed. "And now that we're finally…" she paused again, and blushed more. "It just…makes me so incredibly happy…" Tears started to form in her eyes.

"I'm sorry it took me so long Hina-chan…" Hinata shook her head and smiled.

"No…I don't think it would have been as special if I didn't have to wait…" She brushed away her tears. "Thank you Naruto-kun…for making me the happiest girl alive…" she bowed to him. Naruto sighed and walked up to her.

"Neh, Hina-chan." He said lifting her face and stroking her hair. "Don't thank me, I didn't do anything to deserve it." He smiled at her. "I just asked out the girl I like and it was only the best decision I ever made in my life."

"Naruto-kun…"

"Besides," He said with a grin. "Didn't you stop to think how happy this has made me?" He hugged her. "You accepted me, became a friend, and even dared to become my girlfriend…even though I'm the Kyubi's vessel. Even though you know that's why everyone hated me…people will probably think less of you…and harass you."

"Naruto-kun, as long I'm with you, I don't care." Hinata said as the author gagged himself with a spoon for writing that. Naruto smiled at her and pulled her tighter.

"You can just call me 'Naruto' if you want." He said and Hinata looked up at him smiling.

"Okay, Naruto." She said. Naruto smiled and leaned towards her and their lips met again for the second time.

Two kunai suddenly flew at them from above. Naruto jumped out of the way with Hinata in his grasp.

"So." An eerie voice said from a rooftop near them. "That's the one to capture…" he said pointing at Naruto.

"And that's the one to kill…" another voice said from the shadows referring to Hinata.

"Now, now." Another said, "We can't let you two have all the fun…"

"That's right." Yet another chimed in. "I want blood too."

"Shit…" Naruto cursed. This just wasn't his week.

"You two really don't learn your lesson do you?" the first one asked.

"It looks like we'll have to teach them well, won't we?" the third one giggled.

"It doesn't look like either of them even brought their equipment. What novices." The second retorted.

"Let's shut up and get to work." The fourth complained.

"Yeessss…" the others agreed.

"Kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill…" they started chanting as they slowly moved in.

"Feh…" Naruto spit. "Another fucking one of these situations, eh? C'mon Hina-chan let's show em what we can do."

"But…" Hinata looked at Naruto worriedly.

"I'll be fine." He smiled. "After all, I can't look bad in front of my girl."

"Byakugan!" Hinata activated her blood limit. She smiled at him. "Then I suppose I should try not to look bad either."

"Let's go wild." Naruto said clenching his fist. The couple stood back-to-back, ready to face anything. "It's just another day in the life of a ninja"


End file.
